One Mistake
by CloveEngland
Summary: One mistake can change everything. After Aria makes a huge mistake, her sanity begins to spiral, and when Spencer finds out why, she wishes she hadn't. Aria disappears the night after, and the girls have to find her and help her through it all. Aria's happiness is circling the drain; and the girls are struggling to help. SPARIA with some Hannily sprinkled in.
1. Pilot

_**Summary: **_**After Aria makes a huge mistake, her sanity begins to spiral, and when Spencer finds out why, she wishes she hadn't. Aria's happiness is circling the drain; and the girls are struggling to help. **

Aria walked into school with her eyes downcast, silently going to her locker and avoiding any of her friends if she could. She didn't want to talk to them right now. She didn't know what she'd say. When she got to her locker, the petite brunette got the books she needed for first period and headed to class, where she sat, much to her annoyance, by Spencer. She just had to hope Spencer wouldn't question her.

Sitting down next to her friend, Aria tried as hard as she could to avoid making eye contact. But finally, she had no choice but to look up at Spencer, for she had prodded her at least three times in the shoulder. Her eyes met Spencer's and Aria gripped the edges of her chair so tightly her knuckles turned white. She waited for what her friend would say.

"Aria, hey, are you okay?" Spencer said in a soft tone, her eyes misty with worry for her friend. Out of all of the friends, Aria endeared Spencer the most. Like how Hanna and Emily seemed to get along the best with each other, Aria and Spencer got along with each other. "You seem… I don't know, out of it. And where were you last night? We all stayed over at Hanna's. Why couldn't you be there? We tried calling, you know."

Aria nodded vigorously to the first question. "I'm fine, Spencer." She swallowed and said, "And, you see, I… I… well, actually I…" luckily, she was saved from her moment of awkwardness by the teacher walking into the classroom and the class beginning. As soon as it ended, Aria slipped off and hurried down the hallway, her heart pounding against her chest. She couldn't tell her friends where she was. She just couldn't. She had to think of an excuse, and fast. But what excuse could hide what really happened?

_"Come on, Aria, it'll be fun." Aria was nervous. Why should she go to a party with the girl that she had technically taken part in blinding? She looked at the devious smile on Jenna's face. She seemed serious enough. Aria's eyes searched Jenna's expression for anything that might give away an ulterior motive, but she found none._

_ She sighed. "Fine, Jenna. I'll go to the party with you. But don't tell anyone, okay? I don't want to get in trouble." The look on the blind girl's face was nothing but sheer joy. However, if you were to look just a tad bit closer, you'd see the hate and mischief that she was hiding._

_ So, later that night, Jenna and Aria went to the party. It was typical; lots of people, dim lights, drinks, drinks, drinks everywhere. Jenna seemed to maneuver her way around surprisingly well, given that she was blind, and Aria soon lost her, getting sucked into the large group of people. People offered her drinks, and she politely declined, until finally she gave in. She was at a party. She might as well have a little fun._

_ It started out as just one drink, but one turned into two, two into three, until she was too drunk to count. She climbed a staircase with a wobble in her step, giggling every time her foot would slip a little. When she got to the top, though, she did slip. But something- no, someone, caught her fall. It was another girl; an innocent girl. _

_ Aria's brain didn't register that the girl was falling and she was standing. The girl screamed, tumbling down the stairs, and hit her head off a lamp at the bottom. The lamp fell and shattered, and there was blood. There was a lot of blood. Aria just laughed. She didn't understand. Her drunken brain couldn't process that she'd killed someone._

_ When Aria awoke, she was at home. She didn't remember what had happened after she pushed that girl. She… she'd pushed the girl. Aria shot up in bed. She killed someone. She checked her phone. Missed calls from Hanna, Spencer, and Emily. But then her phone went off again._

_**'Little Aria... let's play a game! I want to see how long it takes you to snap. You can't tell your friends about what you did, and you can't tell them about this game; this message. The consequences will certainly be fun for me! –A'**_

"They'll find out sooner or later," Aria murmured to herself, her voice trembling. Just then, she was aware of a presence next to her. Spencer.

"Who will find out what?" Spencer asked her eyes narrowed as she glared down at Aria. "What's up with you huh? Where were you last night?" She noticed how Aria visibly paled, how her hands began to shake, and her eyes seemed to grow to twice their normal size.

"I-I'm sorry," Aria stuttered, "I'm sorry Spencer I can't tell you. It's not even that important. My phone died, and well, I had family issues." She came up with the quick excuse on the spot, hoping it would get Spencer to keep from asking. She saw the suspicion in Spencer's eyes; she wasn't normally so secretive about family issues. She usually liked to confide in her friends. But Spencer nodded anyways, deciding to head off and ask Hanna and Emily about what was going on with Aria.

Aria sighed when Spencer walked away, and tears gathered in her eyes. Students headed into their classes, but Aria stayed by her locker. She slid down the wall and held her face in her hands, leaving her locker open, ignoring the bell that signaled that next period had begun. She had a throbbing headache still from her hangover. It was a Friday, so Aria decided to ditch for the day.

When the girl got home, she crawled into her bed and fell asleep, not wanting to think about her mistake, or A's threat, or Spencer's suspicion and the fact that Spencer was probably telling Emily and Hanna about her strange behavior. She just closed her eyes, shut it out, and let her mind be drawn into sleep.

Aria woke up to her phone going off. She didn't realize she'd slept that long. Hanna was calling her. She sighed and picked up the phone. "Hey, Hanna," she said tiredly, rubbing her eyes and sitting up in bed. Hanna's voice was a little concerned.

"Are you okay? You're not sick, are you?" When Aria said she wasn't sick, Hanna went on. "Good, good. We're all spending the night at Spencer's. You can come, can't you?" Aria looked down. She didn't want to seem suspicious by not going, but if she did go, they could find out. Taking a deep breath, she made a decision that could potentially change everything.

"Yeah, of course, Hanna," Aria said in the steadiest voice she could muster. "I'll meet you there in ten." Hanna agreed and hung up. Aria looked in the mirror and saw the darkness of her own eyes, slightly disturbed by it. Was it a trick of the light? No, those eyes; they looked like the eyes of a murderer. Aria turned away and quickly got her things together before hurrying out of the house, heading to Spencer's.

She forced down her nervousness before she entered the house. What happened tonight could mean life or death- literally- for Aria and her friends. And it all depended on if the truth managed to get out or if it managed to stay hidden.

**So, what'd you guys think? Please review! You'd make me the happiest girl alive. I already have chapter 2 written, but I won't post it until this story gets some attention; you know how that is. Why write a story and publish it if no one reads it, yeah?**

**Give me ideas, share your opinions, I love critiques and will accept hate with open arms; because hate can be helpful! So please review, follow, and favorite! Future chapters will be longer.**

**Xoxo,**

**-England**


	2. The Sleepover: Spencer Knows

"Aria, God, I haven't seen you all day! You just had to go and ditch school on me," Hanna laughed, pulling the girl into a hug when she walked in. Emily did the same, then Spencer. Aria noticed with a slight panic that Spencer's eyes glinted with suspicion and her hug was a little tighter than normal. She couldn't know; she wouldn't. A wouldn't want her precious game to last only a day; Aria didn't even want to think about the consequences.

Aria forced a laugh when she hugged them. "Why all the hugging guys? Gosh I was only gone from school for one day." Emily and Hanna looked at each other grinning and both shrugged simultaneously. It was as though their brains were one, Aria noted with a real chuckle this time accompanied with an easy smile.

"You weren't with us last night either. It just seemed like hugging was a necessary thing to do," Hanna answered, and Emily nodded. Aria's eyes flicked to Spencer's face, and she quickly looked away, unnerved. Spencer was glaring at her, clearly not buying what she'd said earlier that day. How could Hanna and Emily not notice Spencer's obvious behavior?

The four girls headed over to the couch and sat down, discussing what they should do that night. Emily suggested The Notebook, which they'd all seen a million times, and the other three said a dead 'no' in a monotone at the same time. Emily shrugged. Spencer went off and ordered a pizza while the rest discussed a movie. Finally, Hanna suggested The Hunger Games, something they could all agree on.

"So," Spencer said, her eyes burning into Aria's. "We haven't had much action from A lately. I wonder why." Aria stared just as intensely at Spencer. Two could play at this game.

"Yeah," Aria shot back. "I sure hope whoever it is isn't planning anything too big. Silence could be a bad thing. But for now, we should all just enjoy that A's off our backs!" Hanna nodded in agreement and went on to say how glad she was for the relief.

Soon the pizza got there, and they all changed into comfortable clothes and settled down to watch the movie they'd picked. Aria began watching, but was put off, constantly biting her nails or running her hands through her hair or doing anything other than pay attention to what was on the screen in front of her.

About halfway through the movie, Spencer noticed her strange behavior and placed a hand on Aria's shoulder. Aria looked at her, feigning a confused look, and Spencer hissed under her breath, "I need to talk to you, upstairs, now." Aria nodded and the two of them went upstairs.

Spencer held Aria in place and glared into her eyes. "You are going to tell me where you were, and you are going to tell me now. I want to know exactly what happened." Aria did everything she could to avoid Spencer's harsh gaze, looking at the ceiling, at the walls, at her feet. Finally, she met Spencer's gaze.

"Spence, I can't. I really can't; can't you please just accept that?" But Spencer certainly wasn't just accepting that. She was not accepting it one bit. She tightened her grip on Aria's arms. Aria winced at the feeling of Spencer's hands squeezing her arms and her nails digging into her skin. "Please, that hurts. I can't tell you!"

Spencer loosened her grip only slightly and then her eyes grew wide. "You weren't at a party, were you? With who?! What happened? Tell me!" Aria muttered a soft 'damn,' attempting to whip up a quick and believable excuse, not like the terrible one that she'd used before. Then, it clicked.

"Alright, fine, Spencer. I got really, really drunk. I was too drunk to remember anything, okay? Sorry to burst your bubble, but I can't remember what happened enough to tell you." Aria stared at her, pleading that she'd accept that. Of course, though, she didn't. She just laughed.

"Your nose crinkles a little when you tell lies, Aria. I wouldn't be able to tell if I hadn't known you forever; you are a good liar. I want the truth." Sighing, Aria went around. She closed and locked the doors, including any closets, closed the window blinds and locked the windows, shut out the lights, and returned to Spencer.

Spencer looked confused, but then Aria said in a low voice, "Fine. I did get really drunk, that's true. I… Spencer, I pushed someone down a flight of stairs. A lamp fell on her head; she's dead. I killed her Spencer. I killed her. It's completely my fault. I'm a murderer! Spence I'm a murderer!" Tears were running down her cheeks quickly, and sobs attacked her.

Spencer pulled her into a tight hug. "Oh Aria, I had no idea. I'm sorry. It wasn't your fault, alright? You didn't do anything. It sounds to me like it was an accident. Now come on, wipe those tears off that pretty face of yours and let's go back down before Hanna and Emily wonder where we are." Aria nodded and let the taller girl lead her down the steps and back to the couch.

When the two sat down, Spencer put her arm around Aria's shoulders and Aria hid her face in Spencer's neck, falling asleep like that. Hanna leaned over and looked at the two of them, grinning at them. She raised her eyebrows at Spencer and said with a giggle, "So first you two disappear upstairs, and now you're cuddling like an elderly couple?"

Now interested, Emily looked over too and laughed. "What happened up there?" Spencer shot them a look and said, "Come on it's not what you guys think. I needed to ask Aria if she still had something she borrowed from me and I didn't want to start a conversation down here in the middle of the movie."

Hanna just smirked and nodded, and the two girls went back to watching the end of the movie, though now they talked in hushed tones, giggling and joking about Aria and Spencer being romantic. By the time the movie ended, Aria wasn't the only one asleep. Hanna had fallen asleep on Emily, and Emily and Spencer were drifting off as well.

Finally, they were all asleep. If only one of them had stayed awake.

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"Spencer, Emily, wake up!" Hanna said, sobbing and shaking the two girls' shoulders urgently. They sat up groggily from their places on the couch, rubbing their eyes and looking in confusion at the blonde girl who was now in hysterics before them.

Emily rubbed her eyes and yawned, mumbling, "What's wrong Hanna? Why'd you wake us?" She stretched, and then looked confused, then shocked. "Where's Aria?" She bolted up. Spencer stood up too, looking at them intently; more specifically, looking at Hanna.

"That's just it," Hanna sobbed, falling into the open arms of Emily and crying into the hug. "Aria's gone. Just like Alison. She was here when we fell asleep, and now she's gone. I looked for her, but I can't find her anywhere. How could this happen?" Emily rubbed her back, tears slipping down her cheeks as she struggled to hold it together, thinking of their little Aria in the same situation Alison was.

Spencer did nothing. She stood stalk still, staring at the ground, her eyes wide in horror, her mouth hanging open, her face pale. A soft whimper escaped her slightly opened mouth. Her hands slid up to her head, and she curled up on the ground, allowing an agonized wail to be yanked from her. There was no action from A. Now Aria was gone.

"WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE HER?" Spencer shrieked. "WHY WASN'T IT ME? WHY IS IT ARIA?" Seeing their friend in a full-on panic attack, Emily and Hanna knelt down to comfort her. Hanna, who had been in hysterics before, now had a hardened look on her face as opposed to a broken one that Emily and Spencer now shared.

"She's not dead yet," Hanna said stonily. "She's gone, but she's not dead. We're going to find out who A is, and we're going to save Aria. This isn't going to be Alison all over again. We can't let this happen to Aria." Spencer nodded, narrowing her eyes. Emily and Hanna backed away from the terrifying look of sheer anger that filled her eyes.

"This damn A will pay. Whoever A is will not get away with this."

**Here's chapter 2 everyone! I'm going to try to do a chapter a day, or every few days, if you guys like it that is :P**

**I wrote this when I was high on coffee. If they seem out-of-character I apologize. By the way, I do not own PLL, The Hunger Games, or The Notebook. The only thing I own is the plot.**

**Suggestions? Questions? Thoughts? Opinions? Tell me! And be sure to follow/favorite :D**

**And thank you for all of the views, favorites, follows, etc. Really warms my heart3**

**Also, sorry if the summary was at all misleading. This story isn't going to be that short, I'll tell you that much, and the summary will fit the story I promise. **

**Xoxo,**

**-England**


	3. A's Game Begins

The short brunette's eyes cracked open and she looked around, confused. It seemed as though she was in some sort of basement, a stone cellar. She saw a tiny window that allowed sunlight to come in near the top of the wall, and she realized it was day. 'Where am I?' Aria wondered, and went to rub her head, only to find her wrists with cuffs around them and the cuffs chained to the ground. She began to panic, and went to scream, but she'd been gagged by a cloth tied tightly around her face.

"Damn," Aria mumbled around the cloth. "They couldn't have used duct tape?" She struggled in vain against the metal bonds that bound her to the cold floor, but it was no use. The things wouldn't break. Groaning in the back of her throat, she relaxed against the freezing wall and leaned her head on it. She wasn't getting out of here on her own, that was for sure.

Forcing her eyes to close, since there was nothing else she could think to do, she began to drift off into a fitful sleep. That's when she heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Her hope soared, only to crash down when she saw the person in front of her in a black hoodie. Her eyes widened when she saw who it was: Ezra.

"Ezra?" she mumbled. He smirked at her, leaning down and taking her chin in one hand, forcing her to look him in the eyes. With gentle hands, he removed the cloth from her mouth. He laughed when she attempted to turn her head away from him.

"Aria Montgomery… the girl I was supposed to be in love with. You really are pathetic, you know. Cracked the first day, damn, and I thought you'd have held out a little longer." She glared at him, remaining silent, and he went on. "Don't worry dear, you fell for this love, and for that we've decided to spare you the pain of me giving your punishment. I'm just here to pass along the message."

"You won't get away with this," Aria growled, her glare intensifying. "Spencer will come. Spencer and Hanna and Emily will come, I know they will." Ezra just laughed again. Aria looked confused by this, until he spoke again.

"You mean those little friends of yours? They're dead Aria." Aria knew he was lying; she could tell by his voice, though she acted shocked for the sheer purpose of giving them satisfaction. She'd heard of incidents like this. The rambunctious, rebellious ones always died the fastest. She had to play it cool and react the way they wanted her to.

Ezra went on, "But you… we're going to have some fun with you. Later tonight will be your first punishment, and I assure you, they will get worse, so I hope you don't think too much of this first one. About an hour after your punishment you'll be brought a bit of food and water, and then you'll be gagged again. If we hear so much as a whimper from you before we put that gag back on, you'll be killed immediately, understood?"

Aria nodded slowly, her eyes betraying fear- real fear- this time. Ezra smiled and gave a small, 'good' before walking back up the steps, shutting the door and locking it. She heard a tiny tinkling and saw a toothpick roll down the steps. She immediately lunged forward, forgetting the chains, and then fell hard on her shoulders, which curled to protect her face from slamming into the floor.

'Damn.' She thought, 'I need to get that toothpick.' She couldn't think of any way to get it though, so she sat back and pondered her situation; the only solution for the time being that she could come up with being that Spencer would save her. 'Please, please… save me, guys.'

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"We need to find her, but where the hell are we supposed to look?" Spencer groaned, running a hand through her hair. Emily and Hanna exchanged a glance before looking back at the tall girl who stood pacing back and forth. Just then, all of their phones went off, and they immediately pulled them all out. There was an image of a cellar, a very dark cellar, though, as though the picture had been intentionally darkened. A figure was slumped against a wall.

_'Play time, bitches, let's see if you can find your friend before her time runs out—or at least until her body gives in. I'll give you a hint: We're in the east end of town. –A"_

"She's in the east end of town!" Spencer yelled, jumping up in excitement and running out the door, until a call from Hanna pulled her back, and she whipped around the face the blond. Hanna was shaking her head slightly, and she would probably have looked amused had it not been for the dire situation they were in.

Hanna sighed and said, "Use your head, Spencer; you're supposed to be the smarty pants here. Why would A just up and tell us where they are? This could be a trap. Why don't we all split up and search different sections of town, NOT the east end. Then if we still can't find her, we'll search the east end together."

Spencer nodded in agreement, her face reddening a little at almost making such a stupid mistake as that. A was a trickster, if anything, and she almost fell for one of A's tricks.

So it was agreed. Spencer would search the west end of town, Emily the north, and Hanna the south. If anyone found signs of Aria's presence or of A, they were to text another with the typical "SOS." If nothing was found, they'd text a simple "Nothing" and regroup at Spencer's house to head for the east end of town.

Spencer hopped in her car and drove west, towards the western side of Rosewood. Eventually, she pulled over and started the search, going down alleys, scoping out abandoned houses, glancing around while walking down the sidewalks. There was nothing. That's when she saw it: A hair pin. Not just anybody's hair pin, though. She could recall who wore it the last time she was seen. It was Aria's.

Emily, meanwhile, went toward the northernmost section. She looked in places A had been in the past; your typical sketchy places. It wasn't long before she came upon an OPEN door to a sewer. She tripped over something in front of the door. Looking down, she gasped in surprise. She'd tripped on a muddy, torn scarf, with blood splattered on it. But she could recognize that fabric anywhere. The scarf belonged to Aria.

While Spencer and Emily went off to north and west, Hanna searched the south. She didn't even go for sketchy places; she searched everywhere. A could be anyone, an old lady, even, A was just that unpredictable. There was no telling where she could be. Hanna saw a beauty shop and saw a beautiful necklace. 'If Aria's here, I'm not far. I have a few minutes to check this out.' However, as she went toward the beauty shop, she saw a bracelet on the ground, a pretty little bracelet that now looked trashed and dirty. It just so happened to be Aria's bracelet.

The three all texted each other the "SOS" text message to let each other know what they'd found. Confused, they all decided to regroup at Spencer's. When they got there, they all began to talk at once, describing what they'd found and trying to convince the others that they knew where Aria was.

"This is Aria's hair pin, I'd know it anywhere," Spencer argued, and Hanna rolled her eyes, shooting back, "No way, I found Aria's bracelet, she has to be in the southern area." Emily interrupted, "Hey guys- I found Aria's scarf, and there's blood on it. She must be where I searched!"

"Hey- guys," Spencer said loudly over them, causing Emily and Hanna to fall silent. "Do you know what this means?" Spencer was met with more silence. "We all found something of Aria's," Spencer went on, "In a different section of town. There was something of Aria's everywhere. Aria could be anywhere." She groaned, "We're right back to square one!"

Distraught, the three girls went into Spencer's house to get drinks and try and think of some other way to search for Aria- a way that wouldn't waste time like this had and a way that would actually work for them effectively.

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Aria awoke to the sound of footsteps on the wooden stairs, not realizing that she'd fallen asleep. "Who is it?" Aria said, her voice shaking as she looked at the person wearing all black. The person wore a mask, so she couldn't see who it was. The figure was silent and walked with gentle, careful steps. It walked up to Aria and crouched before her.

"It's time for your first punishment, my dear." Aria felt her body shaking and forced herself to remain strong. This was supposed to be the best of the punishments; the least painful punishment. She said nothing and waited. The figure began unbuttoning her shirt, and she suddenly wished she hadn't worn a button down to Spencer's.

She forced herself to stay silent. The figure then began to speak. "So tell me, Aria, I want to know what makes you tick. I want to know your weakness. What you hate to be called. It can be a phrase, it can be a name." Aria stayed silent. "Silent treatment?" the figure scoffed, "Alright, I'll just play with you then."

"Your family is falling apart, Aria. You've failed. You're a failure. Your friends see you as a burden. You're nothing to them. What about Spencer, hmm? Aria, you really like Spencer don't you? You two have a sort of connection that you don't share with Emily and Hanna. But that's okay, because they share it with each other. Little Aria, what if I told you that Spencer hates you? What if I told you that Spencer was only being your friend because she pities you?"

"That's NOT TRUE!" Aria shouted. The figure laughed; it'd found her weakness. The person pulled out a knife with a sharp blade and knelt over Aria's small, trembling body. The figure began to carve words into Aria's stomach. After every letter, it'd growl something in Aria's ear- 'Spencer hates you' 'your friends don't love you' 'you're a burden to Spencer' 'you're pitiful.'

Finally, the figure left, leaving Aria sobbing on the ground, blood running down her stomach and arms, her shirt still unbuttoned and hanging loosely off her shoulders. Through her blurry eyes, she made out some of the words carved into her body. 'Pathetic' was one. And, of course, the one phrase. 'Spencer hates you.'

Crying, Aria fell asleep, not noticing when Ezra came down in silence and wrapped a dirty towel around her wounds to staunch the flow of blood, leaving a plate with a sandwich and a cup of water by her feet. If she hadn't been so terrified and tired, she might have noticed the sympathy that was in Ezra's eyes. But no matter how much sympathy he had for her, sympathy couldn't save her now.

Aria needed her friends. She needed Spencer. And they were on a wild goose chase made especially for them by the A team.

**I'm having so much fun with this story guys. I love writing it, and I love that you all are enjoying it. Chapter four should be up tomorrow or Friday. **

**Please review; I've only gotten a few reviews. All of those who reviewed, thank you so much, I've seen them and I'm very happy you all like it so far! If there's anything you want to happen later in the story, just review telling me what you want and I'll consider it. **

**Until next time!**

**Xoxo**

**-England**


	4. The East End

Spencer, Emily, and Hanna all sat on Spencer's couch, thinking of ways to find Aria. They'd searched all day for her, and had come up with nothing. Spencer was white as a ghost, tears sliding down her cheeks. This was all too similar to Alison's disappearance. Only this time, it wasn't someone who'd gotten on their nerves often. This time, is was someone who did nothing but look out for her friends, refusing to take the selfish route that it seemed as though Alison strayed over to too often.

Hanna sighed. "We'll have to look for her tomorrow. It's too dark now. And it's too dangerous. A took Aria; we could be next, and we need to be here to save Aria." Emily nodded in agreement. Spencer did nothing. Emily and Hanna looked at the broken girl with pity in her eyes. But then, Spencer's head shot up.

"We need to search the east side of town."

"What?" Hanna said, taken aback.

"She's right," Emily put in to Hanna. "This was a setup. All those things we found- A sent us everywhere but the east side of town. A knew we'd second guess that message. A knew we'd search everywhere but there, and A knew that when we found evidence we wouldn't think to go to the east side of town."

Hanna groaned, understanding what they meant now, and buried her head in her hands. "We'll start in the morning then," she mumbled. Emily and Spencer nodded. Since that "hint" A gave them had been sent, none of the girls had heard anything from A. It was like A was waiting for them.

As the three girls fell back into to their meditative states, the lights flickered, and a downpour began. Sighing, the girls decided to get some sleep, making sure to lock all the doors and windows and make it impossible for A to get in.

Spencer closed her eyes and was engulfed in sleep, bringing on a dream.

_Spencer walked down a wooden staircase in a clean, normal-looking house. She entered a stone cellar and saw none other than Aria lying on the cold floor, blood pooling around her stomach, soaking the dirty rag that had been placed to stop the bleeding._

_ "Aria," Spencer gasped, running over to the small girl. The little brunette trembled at her friend's touch. A whimper escaped her pale lips and, without opening her eyes, she whimpered, "Don't hurt me." Spencer pulled her hand away, her bottom lip trembling as tears filled her eyes._

_ "Aria it's me, it's Spencer." Aria stared at her. It felt so real; it couldn't possibly be a dream. Spencer put a hand on Aria's cheek and rubbed the soft skin, brushing away a tear. "I'm here for you, alright? We're looking for you. We're going to save you."_

_ Aria took a weak breath in and then on the breath out, said in a shuddering voice, "Hurry Spencer. Please." Spencer nodded and hugged Aria, letting the small girl sob into her shoulder. Spencer stroked her hair and shushed her, before resorting to gently singing to her until her sobs died down._

_ Just then, footsteps came from the staircase. Aria looked at Spencer with wild eyes. "Get out of here, Spencer," she said quickly, seriously. "It's not safe. Get out!" Even though Spencer was aware that it was a dream, she still felt the sense of panic and ran behind a box, hiding. She saw a figure in a black hoodie with a mask come down with a whip._

_ "Hello Aria. Are you ready?" Aria looked to the side, away from Spencer and the figure. She said nothing. The figure raised the whip and brought it down on Aria, who let out a soft yelp. Spencer tried to call out, but her voice had no sound. She tried to move, but it was as though her limbs were bound. _

_ The image began to fade, and _Spencer woke up.

Breathing heavily, Spencer looked around wildly, only to find Hanna and Emily sleeping on either side of her. She ran a hand through her hair and took deep, calming breaths to relax her shaking body. The dream had felt so real; it was as though she was really there with Aria even though she wasn't.

She heard grumbles coming from the girls on either side of her as they woke up. Hanna stretched and got up, making them all coffee and handing Emily and Spencer their mugs. "Need to get all the energy we can," Hanna said, "we're headed to the east side of town."

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Aria woke up from a dream that had felt so real. She'd seen Spencer. Right before the dream, she'd been whipped. In the dream, Spencer had been there for her, and comforted her. That's when Aria caught sight of the wounds that were sure to scar, the wounds that told her that Spencer didn't care, and that she hated her.

She was beginning to believe it. Every time someone other than Ezra would come down, no matter what they were doing, be it torment or to replace her water with somewhat cleaner water, they would repeat to her that her friends didn't love her, that Spencer pitied her, and all of the things that would push her toward the breaking point.

Just then, Ezra came down with a cloth and a bucket of soapy water. The cloth, though, was covered in dirt, as it seemed like all the cloths were. Everything was dirty. Aria didn't trust the food enough to eat it, and only sipped at the water right after they replaced it.

He left the cloth and bucket there, mumbling at her to wash up, and went back upstairs. Sighing, Aria moved her hands as far as she could, just far enough to reach the cloth and dip it in the water before rubbing it over her face.

She also lightly drew it over her wounds before placing the blood-stained cloth in the water and cleaning it. She wrung it out on the stone ground and when it was only a little damp, wrapped it back around her stomach and buttoned her shirt.

Aria didn't want to imagine what kind of punishment was next. She'd thought this first one was bad enough, especially with the whipping that went with it. She tried to imagine that Spencer was looking for her, but she just couldn't. She didn't want to get her hopes up and then be let down.

The masked figure came down next to take the bucket away, and then Aria was left alone until her next punishment for not playing by the rules of A's game. She gently played with the chains, picking at the metal in boredom as there was really nothing else for her to do until they returned.

That's when her eyes fell upon the toothpick from the day before. It was slightly closer to her, but not by much. Someone must have kicked it. 'If I could just find a way to get it closer to me, maybe I could…' She glanced at the cup of water by her feet. Grinning, she kicked it, and the liquid flowed out toward the toothpick.

"Come on, come on," she muttered, and the water reached it, sending it afloat slightly. Filled with hope, Aria knelt down by the water and began to suck in breaths, to draw the toothpick closer to her through the spilled water. Finally, it was close enough for her to grab, which she did, and shoved it into her pocket. She'd use it when there was no one in the building she was in- if that's even what it was. It was too risky to try and break out knowing there were still people above her.

Gently, she ran her fingers over the thin piece of wood, her fingertips brushing delicately over the smooth toothpick, sticking slightly to the shard from the water that'd spilled on it. Happy to finally have some physical piece of hope, even if it was just a tiny sliver of wood, she rested her head on the hard wall, rolling her shoulders a couple time to crack her aching back.

With that, she let out a soft laugh, and awaited the second punishment with a hopeful attitude- because this second punishment just might be her last punishment.

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Spencer, Hanna, and Emily searched the east end of town all day, looking in every sketchy place they came upon as thoroughly as they possibly could. They stopped only once during the day at a café to grab a bite to eat. Hanna complained that Aria couldn't possibly be in this section, that they'd searched everywhere and still found no proof of her being here.

Spencer, however, kept them going. She refused to give up the search until dusk fell and it was too dark to search any longer. The evidence that they'd already gathered was enough to lead her to believe that Aria was here. It made too much sense for her not to be. However, darkness fell, and they still had not found their missing friend.

"We've been at this all day," Emily sighed, "and still nothing." She shook her head, looking at the ground sadly. "We're no closer to finding her now than we were at the very start of all this." Hanna placed a hand on the distraught girl's shoulder and said nothing. What could she say? Emily was right. None of them knew what was going to happen. So then, what reassurance could they give?

"We have school tomorrow," Spencer muttered. "We can't look again until after school. I don't know about you guys but I'm going to start looking as soon as I can." Her voice was hard and monotonous, as it had been all day, and had been hardening more and more the longer Aria was missing.

Hanna and Emily nodded in agreement with Spencer's idea to search as soon as possible, but they were a little more hesitant. Spencer knew they'd search, but could tell by their averted eyes that they were beginning to lose hope.

The three parted ways, disheartened from the day's failure. Spencer sighed, wondering if it'd be any different if Aria's parents were home. Unfortunately, they were on a trip to Paris for a month, and had left Aria and her brother alone, assuming they'd be safe. '_Safe, my ass,' _Spencer thought as she went into her house and up to shower and go to bed.

Hanna and Emily split apart too to go home, but still texted each other.

'_Hey, Emily; please… tell me that I'm not the only one that thinks Spencer's going a bit crazy looking for Aria.'_

**'Don't worry Hanna; I'm right with you on that one. Of course I want to find Aria, but we can't look for her every waking minute.'**

_'Exactly; I'm going to have homework to do tomorrow. We all are. And Spencer's going to expect us to search for her all afternoon.'_

**'Maybe we can make an excuse. Being alone might give Spencer some well-needed time to think too.'**

_'You're right. Good night, Emily.'_

**'Good night.'**

With that, the two girls stopped texting each other and went to bed as well.

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Aria heard footsteps coming down the steps and braced herself. She saw the figure coming down the steps, the masked figure who spoke in a disguised voice so she never knew who it was. It was always a different gender, too. It was never the same person.

The figure walked up to her and put a hand on her face. Aria could picture the smirk of satisfaction the person wore under that mask at being able to hurt her so easily, and felt instantly irritated by the thought. Forcing it away, she glared at the person in front of her.

The black-hooded figure said, "Well Aria. This punishment will be significantly different from the first. I expect you won't struggle. You know it'll get you nowhere." When the person was met with silence, they took that as their cue to begin. They began to kick Aria with as much strength as possible, and hit every part of her body. Aria held her breath to keep from gasping or yelling out in pain.

Finally, the person stomped heavily on her arm. She couldn't keep in the scream when she heard a snap and felt pain rush through her. The person gave her one last look before going upstairs.

Now, bruised and literally broken, Aria curled up cradling her injured arm close to her body and wept, her hope gone as quickly as it'd come.

** Here's chapter four! *o* I just love Sparia so much. You also get a little Hannily in this chapter and in the next :D**

** The next chapter and the chapter after, some serious stuff is going to happen. Be prepared ;D**

** Xoxo,**

**-England**


	5. We've Found Aria

_Spencer walked into a white, simple, nice house for the third time. She stopped at a wooden door and stared at it for a while, not quite sure why she was staring at it. She heard a whimpering coming from behind the wooden door. Who was it? _

_ The tall girl's hand reached for the doorknob, her fingers stretched out to reach for it, but then her hand froze. It was like there was a force field around the door. She couldn't touch it, couldn't try to break it down, but she needed to. She just felt like she simply had to._

_ The whimpering turned to sobbing, the sobbing to screaming, and Spencer felt a sense of urgency rise in her. She threw herself at the door, but could never get close enough to actually touch it let alone open it. She started trying to scream, but there was no sound. The screaming behind the door formed a name; Spencer's name._

_ That's when Spencer realized who it was that was crying for her. "ARIA!" she screamed._

"ARIA!" she yelled, bolting up in bed and hearing her alarm clock "screaming" at her. She slammed her hand down on the off button to shut it up and with a ghost like manner, got out of bed and changed into the outfit she'd decided on to wear.

Spencer ran a brush through her hair and then went on to curl it before starting on her makeup. As she went to apply mascara, she blinked a couple times in surprise. She looked like a ghost, and she was beginning to feel like one too.It was funny, she thought, ironic how her friend could have this much of an effect on her.

She scoffed and muttered coldly, "Take your friends for granted and then, poof, they're gone. I should've been more concerned about Aria when she told me about that party."

Spencer finished applying her makeup and was glad to see that she didn't look so broken, so dead. Sighing, she finished up her morning round in the house and headed off to school.

When Spencer got to school, she went over to Emily and Hanna, noticing with a pang in her chest the gap where Aria would have normally stood in their group of friends. Shaking it off, she turned back to Hanna and Emily with a smile.

"Someone looks… joyful today," Emily said tentatively, her tone of voice slow and careful, giving a small smile to Spencer. Spencer nodded her eyes brighter than they'd been for the past two days.

"It's a new day. A new chance for something good to happen," Spencer said with a shrug, earning smiles from Hanna and Emily, who were glad to see that Spencer was acting a bit happier today.

The three of them then headed to class. Their day was normal; classes boring as usual, with some but not a lot of homework. At lunch, they made small talk, carefully avoiding the topic of Aria's disappearance. A few people asked where Aria was, but they just said she was sick. The three friends didn't want to attract too much attention to the situation- yet. If it dragged on for too long, they would.

School came to an end surprisingly quickly, and the three girls stood talking. Spencer was the one to alight on the subject of the search for their missing friend.

"So, do you guys want to start looking for Aria?" Her question was answered with silence, and she frowned, looking from Hanna to Emily as they looked at each other nervously. Her eyebrows furrowed and Hanna spoke.

"Actually, Spencer, we want to get our homework done first… do you want to start looking and we'll catch up with you later…?" Spencer narrowed her eyes, understanding now why they were acting so uncomfortable.

"You guys are bailing on me," Spencer said heavily. "Fine, you two go home and get your homework done early. You know what, you don't even have to bother helping me look for Aria, clearly neither of you care that she's GONE! Clearly, you don't care that she… she may not ever come back." Spencer shook her head and walked quickly off before they could say anything.

Spencer got in her car and drove to the east side of town. She was going to look for Aria again, and this time, she was extremely determined to find her.

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Aria blinked in confusion as a person without a black sweatshirt came down into the basement. The girl was tall, like Spencer, with long, straight red hair. Her eyes were green and her face was dotted with freckles. She had stitches going across her forehead that seemed to be new.

The girl knelt down in front of Aria with a smirk. "Hello, Aria Montgomery. You don't know me, but I assure you I know you. Maybe you can reach into that twisted mind of yours and realize who I am." Aria still looked confused. "No? That's a shame. I thought you would remember the girl you almost KILLED."

Aria's eyes widened in shock and the redhead laughed. "That's right; I'm that girl you pushed down a flight of stairs. The lamp fell on my head. I'm lucky to be alive, you know. It's all because of your stupid mistake. And you know what, Aria? I'll never forgive you for it. Even if you manage to get out of here alive, I'll still work with the A team, and I'll make your life the worst hell I possibly can.

"It'll be great, Aria. And you'll never get me in jail. You have no idea who I am." The girl laughed and went upstairs. Aria was aware that her good hand was shaking tremendously, and she carefully picked up the recently replaced glass of water and sipped it cautiously.

A part of Aria was relieved. She hadn't murdered anyone. But that's when she realized that murdering someone had never been her mistake. Not murdering someone had. Whoever it was she had run into was now out to get her. If the girl had died, she could've escaped knowing at least that she wasn't going to have to up her guard by at least twenty percent. Now, she was a specified target.

Another person came down the steps now, and Aria tensed, wincing at the pain in her broken arm. This time, it was the masked, black-clad figure again. She sighed. It was time for punishment number three. But she did not expect what this punishment turned out to be. The figure didn't even stop this time to "chat" with her.

The figure took its mask off, but it still wore a sort of part of a mask that disguised the most important details of the face. Then, he forcefully kissed Aria. Aria made a soft squeal in the back of her throat of surprise as it occurred to her what was going to happen. As if to shoo away any doubts she may have had, the person placed his hands on her breasts and went to remove her clothing.

Aria began to sob, wishing to be anywhere but there. Tears rushed quickly down her cheeks as her already bruised body was filled with more pain as well as fear and anger because of A. It wasn't long before Aria was completely naked and the worst thing she could have possibly imagined happened to her.

Just when she thought she couldn't bear the pain anymore, she heard someone yell, "GET OFF OF HER!"

Aria saw a blonde and a dark-haired girl pull the person away from her, going all-out ninja on him. She sighed in relief when she saw that it was Hanna and Emily. She looked around until her eyes fell upon the girl she was looking for, the tall girl with brown hair who stood staring at her with a mixture of horror, sadness, relief, and joy. Spencer.

Spencer rushed over to Aria and pulled her into a warm, gentle embrace. Aria gladly fell into her arms and cried, burying her face in Spencer's shoulder. Tears rolled down Spencer's face and she whispered, "Thank God we found you."

Aria pulled back and whimpered, "Spencer… in my pants pocket… there's a toothpick…" Spencer's eyes fell to the cuffs binding Aria's hands and she understood. She got the toothpick out of Aria's pocket and picked the lock so the cuffs fell off of her hands. Hanna and Emily had managed to knock out the guy, and they ran over to Spencer and Aria.

Backing up…

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Spencer grumbled as she walked around, thinking of places to search for Aria. But they'd already looked everywhere that was logical to look! She was almost out of ideas when she passed a clean looking, simple white house. There was something about the house, with its perfect, smooth painting, and dainty little windows that reminded Spencer of the house from her dream.

The house was identical to the one she'd dreamt. It had the same frilly blue curtains in the windows, the same tiny little blue door at the front, the same gold accents, like a little gold mailbox and a gold number 357 on the door. It had the same little garden with color-coded flowers blooming in it. Curious, Spencer headed toward this very house.

It felt like déjà vu, walking toward the house she'd walked toward in her dream. She turned the warm door handle and entered as quietly as she could. Everything was neat and tidy, not an excessive thing anywhere. The kitchen had an empty marble table and a counter with assorted blue rags. There was a cute little sink, and pictures of kittens hung everywhere you turned. It was almost frightening.

Spencer traveled further into the house and came upon a wooden door. Beside the wooden door, something that hadn't been in her dream was a bulletin board. Pinned to it were images, disturbing images. There were images of Aria, images of her, images of Hanna, of Emily, even of Alison. There were even pictures of her parents tacked onto that bulletin board!

That's when it hit her; this had to be A's lair. Suddenly, she heard footsteps behind her. As quietly as she could, she ducked behind a table, holding her breath and hiding. She watched as a girl with fiery red hair went down through the wooden door. She heard voices coming from below her, and took this time to text Hanna and Emily the address and tell them that she'd found where Aria might be.

Ten minutes later, Hanna and Emily were there, and the girl with red hair had come back upstairs. Now, Hanna and Emily hid with Spencer behind the table as a guy wearing a mask and all black went downstairs. They waited a bit and then they heard screams. The three girls exchanged a look and ran down the steps to the basement.

Hanna and Emily saw the man raping their friend first, and immediately ran to beat him up for what he'd done. Hanna screamed, "GET OFF OF HER!"

Spencer came down last, and froze at the sight in front of her. At first, she was happy that she'd found Aria, but that was until she got a good look at her. Aria was covered in bruises, she looked way skinnier than usual, her arm was a nasty shade of purple and Aria held it gingerly. Her wrists were chained to the ground, and she had fresh cuts all over her body.

Spencer hurried over to her, and that brings us back to where we are now.

"We have to get out of here," Emily said. Spencer nodded, and Hanna was still glaring at the unconscious body of the person they'd knocked out. Spencer looked at Aria and swallowed.

"Aria- can… can you walk?" Aria put on a brave face immediately and nodded. Spencer wrapped a gentle arm around her waist and looped Aria's arm over her shoulders to support her fragile body. Hanna stood on the other side of Aria to help hold her up as they walked up the stairs, Emily walking behind them just in case the man woke up.

They got out with little issue; luckily no one else was in the house. Emily got a blanket out of Spencer's car and wrapped it around Aria. Spencer gave the keys to Hanna and asked her to drive them to her house, as she'd been studying in the medical field recently. She got in the back and let Aria lay across the seats with her head in Spencer's lap.

Emily climbed into the passenger seat and they started to drive.

There was silence for a little while. No one quite knew what to say. Aria had closed her eyes and turned her face into Spencer's stomach, comforted by the warmth and the smell of her friend. Spencer gently stroked Aria's hair, and in the front seats, Hanna and Emily silently comforted each other with the occasional shoulder touch or reassuring look.

They all knew full well that they should be bursting with joy, and on the inside, they all were. But though Aria had been found, they knew her road to recovery wouldn't be easy, and they'd be with her all the way, and with each other, because that's what they did, friends till the end.

Ironically, Spencer had a lot she wanted to say to Aria alone, and Hanna and Emily desperately wanted to talk to Aria- and each other, also alone. Hanna and Emily, when they'd been alone doing "homework" had admitted their feelings to each other, but didn't know where it was going to go yet. They still felt weird about telling Spencer and Aria too.

When they got to Spencer's house, Spencer picked up Aria bridal style and carried her into the house, taking her up to her bed and laying her down on it. Spencer saw Aria's phone on the floor on the way up; it must've fallen out of her pocket before she was taken.

Spencer got a medical kit and some ice packs, gently placing the ice on Aria's swollen arm and her other bad bruises. She gently cleaned the wounds from the knife, and felt tears prick at her eyes as she read some of the things that had been written into her skin. Aria had fallen asleep, and Spencer didn't want to wake her; she looked too peaceful.

So Spencer did what she could in terms of medical things and made sure that there was nothing aside from the broken arm that really needed medical attention. 'Aria was lucky,' Spencer thought, 'The damage could've been a lot worse.'

Hanna and Emily came in and, upon seeing Aria fast asleep, told Spencer they would be at Hanna's place to talk for a bit and that they wanted an update on when Aria woke up as soon as it happened. Spencer nodded, and the two girls left, leaving Spencer to sit with Aria alone.

Spencer sighed and closed her eyes, not wanting to look at Aria's ghostly face. So she flopped down on the bed next to Aria and stared at the ceiling, waiting for her to wake up.

**They found Aria! AMG! We can get into the fluff now! You guys want fluff? I want fluff. I love reading fluff, I love writing fluff, you guys had better know, it's time for fluff.**

**A haiku.**

**Fluff fluff fluff fluff fluff**

**Fluff fluff fluff fluff fluff fluff fluff**

**Fluff fluff fluff fluff fluff.**

**Xoxo**

**-England**


	6. You're Never Safe

Aria opened her eyes slightly and looked around, confused. She was wrapped in a clean blanket, and the room she was in certainly wasn't that cold cellar. She moved her head, wincing at the pain in it, and saw Spencer beside her. Wait, Spencer? Why was Spencer here? How?

The memories of what happened earlier came flooding back to her, and she shivered. Then she began to sweat, her breathing becoming erratic. She felt trapped, and sat up abruptly, which was a mistake on her part as it sent more pain running through her. She saw out of her peripheries Spencer sit up and look at her. She turned her head to look at Spencer.

"Aria…" Spencer said softly. She had a million things running through her head, but decided on asking the most logical thing. "Can you please tell me what happened? Or at least let me check your injuries? If you need to go to the hospital, we need to know as soon as-,"

"No." Aria said suddenly, shaking her head. "No, please, don't make me go to the hospital. I'm fine, I swear, Spencer. I just…" her voice trailed off. Then she heard a buzzing. Spencer looked down and saw that it was Aria's phone, which she'd brought upstairs. Spencer read the text message and looked at Aria sympathetically.

"It's your mom. They got a really great offer. Your parents are going to stay in Paris for the next year, and send you money each month." Aria groaned and buried her face in her hands, taking a deep breath to calm herself.

Spencer went on, "But Aria, you have to go to the hos-,"

"No, Spencer!" Aria snapped. "I can't go to the hospital. I won't go. And my parents just made this whole situation make me look so much worse. I hate being weak. If I go to the hospital, this'll become a public thing, and I don't want everyone to know how weak I am. Spencer, please."

Spencer frowned at Aria. "You're not weak."

"I am." Aria whispered.

"No, Aria, you're not. But if you really don't want to go to the hospital, I won't make you go, unless I check up on you and you need surgery or something."

Aria sighed in relief. "Thank you, Spencer."

Spencer nodded. "Of course; let's look at that broken arm now, ok?"

With gentle hands, Spencer took Aria's broken arm. Despite Spencer's caution, Aria's face still contorted in pain. Spencer struggled not to pay attention to this and instead felt the bruised arm. She was relieved to find that the break was not one that required surgery, just a fracture. Spencer looked into Aria's eyes and said, "I'm going to have to set the bone. It's going to hurt, a lot. Just hang in there until I can wrap it, and then you can have painkillers, okay?"

Aria nodded slightly and said in a quiet voice, "I'll be fine." She gave a weak attempt at a smile. Spencer returned it with a reassuring one, her heart filled with pity for her hurt friend. However, she was happy that Aria could be safe now; or at least, safer than she was before.

Spencer gathered the materials she needed, a sling that she used to practice and bindings to use as a cast. She took Aria's arm and moved the bone a little until she heard a snap of it setting back in place. Aria squeaked from the pain, but covered her mouth with her other hand to quiet herself. Spencer bound the arm tightly so the bone wouldn't move, then put Aria's arm into the sling.

Aria had tears falling silently down her cheeks, and she forced a pained smile to try and reassure Spencer that she was okay and not in as much pain as she really was, which failed horribly and looked like more of a grimace. Spencer gave Aria a sad smile and got a bottle of painkillers and a cup of water. She took a couple of the pills and gave them to Aria.

"Here, this should make your arm hurt less… and I guess… everything else." Aria gave her a grateful look and washed down the pills with her water. Then, suddenly, her eyes glazed over, and she stared at Spencer with a rather horrified expression.

"What?" Spencer asked, becoming thoroughly confused. "What, what is it?!"

"My parents," Aria said, Spencer's words from earlier finally really setting in. "They're going to be gone for a year now. What'll I do? Spence I'll be home by myself; Mike is never there. What if- what if A comes for me again?" Her voice grew hushed and worried at the end.

Spencer looked at her, her eyes widening as she too realized the situation. "Well then you'll just have to stay here Aria."

Aria tipped her head. "No, I couldn't. Not for a whole year."

This earned a laugh from Spencer. "Don't worry about it. My family won't mind. Besides, if your parents are sending you money every month, just tell them you're staying here and to send it to this address instead."

"You're sure it's okay?" Aria asked tentatively. Spencer nodded vigorously. Aria smiled.

"Great. Thanks. I love you, Spencer, you know that?" Spencer looked at her with a bright smile and pulled the smaller girl into a gentle hug.

"I love you too," Spencer said softly, before pulling away and going to get something comfortable for Aria to change into; the dirty scraps of clothing that still clung to her were certainly not what she wanted to be wearing.

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Emily and Hanna sat in silence for a little bit. Emily looked at Hanna and eventually spoke. "So… do you think we should tell them?" her eyes searched Hanna's face. She knew the decision would have to be Hanna's. Everyone already knew about her sexual orientation; they didn't know about Hanna's yet.

Hanna looked down at her hands, then back up with a smile. "I think we should at least tell Aria and Spence." Emily smiled and nodded in agreement. The two of them hugged and then talked and laughed for a while before Spencer texted them to say that Aria had woken up and was actually functioning now.

"Let's wait to tell them," Emily said softly as they went to head back to Spencer's house. "We should give Aria time to recover from all that's happened. She deserves that before we surprise them with our announcement."

Hanna nodded and then they went to Spencer's house. When they got there, they went upstairs to Spencer's room, where Aria was sitting propped up with pillows on one side of the bed, and Spencer was lying on her stomach with a book in front of her on the other side. She seemed engrossed in the book, so Hanna and Emily turned their attention right to Aria.

"Aria, we missed you, squirt," Hanna said with a smile, walking over and giving Aria a hug. Aria laughed at the little nickname Hanna had given her. Spencer, at this point, had sat up and was paying attention.

"We're really glad you're okay Aria," Emily said, her voice breaking slightly. "We… we were really worried about you." When Hanna finally pulled away from the hug with Aria, Emily had her turn hugging the little brunette, and then pulled away much sooner than Hanna had, as Hanna had practically refused to let go of Aria.

Hanna shook her head, looking confused. "I still don't understand why A would take you. It was just completely random!"

Aria and Spencer exchanged a look; Spencer had put the pieces together now and knew why Aria had been kidnapped for the most part.

"You didn't tell them?!" Aria asked surprised that Spencer hadn't told their other two best friends about what she'd done- or what she'd _almost _done.

Spencer shrugged. "I didn't think that it was my place to tell. I thought that if we found you, you should be the one to tell them." Aria smiled.

"Well that was kind of you to think." Aria said, then she turned to Hanna and Emily who were now thoroughly confused. "I went to a party with Jenna," Aria explained, "I don't know why I agreed to it, but I did. When I was there, I got really drunk. I pushed someone down a flight of stairs and… and a lamp fell on her head.

"I thought she'd died…" Aria said, her voice beginning to shake, "But just today I found out that she's alive. I have no idea who she is. But she's working with the A team, and she's vowed to make my life miserable for what I almost did. But after the party, when I woke up the next morning, A sent me a text and said that we were going to 'play a game.' I couldn't tell anyone what happened, or about the text or the consequences would be dire.

"I told Spencer," Aria said to conclude her story, "And that's why I was taken."

Spencer's eyes were as round as saucers. "Why didn't you tell me about the text?" Spencer shouted angrily at Aria. She sounded angry at Aria, but really she was angry at herself for being the reason Aria was taken to begin with. "We could've made sure you stayed safe," she yelled, "Why didn't you just tell me?"

Aria flinched from her harsh tone, and Hanna put a gentle arm around Aria's shoulders. "Spencer, stop." Hanna said softly. "You need to calm down okay?" Spencer looked at her and Aria, then her eyes softened and she ran a hand through her hair.

"I'm sorry. I'm not mad at you Aria. I'm mad at myself."

"Don't," Aria said. "Don't be mad at yourself, you're right. It's my fault, okay? I shouldn't have gone to that party in the first place. It was my own fault."

Spencer opened her mouth to bite back a retort, but Hanna and Emily both had the same thought: if this isn't stopped now they'll never stop arguing.

"Guys, don't fight over this. We should all just be happy that Aria's okay." Emily said. Spencer sighed with a nod.

They talked with Emily and Hanna for a while before the two girls had to go, leaving Spencer and Aria alone again. Aria was wearing a little smirk on her face.

"What's got you all smiley?" Spencer asked, looking at Aria curiously.

"Oh don't tell me you didn't notice Spencer." Aria said her grin widening. "The way those two acted. You can't possibly have not seen it, there has to be something going on between them. Something… romantic_,_" she finished. Spencer stared at her for a moment before a smile slid across her face.

"I get it now." She said. "Wow. I wonder if they plan on telling us just exactly what's going on."

Aria shrugged. "We'll just have to wait and see I guess."

Spencer then said, "Do you want anything, Aria? Soup, maybe?"

"Soup sounds nice." Aria mumbled, already seeming tired again. Spencer smiled at her and went downstairs. She made the soup, which was of course the classic chicken noodle, and came back upstairs. She almost laughed when she saw that Aria was already asleep again.

Spencer gently shook Aria awake and handed her the bowl of soup and put a cup of water on the bedside table. Aria yawned and then said, "Thanks, Spencer… for everything."

"It's really no problem," Spencer said with a smile. "I was really worried about you Aria. I don't know what I'd do without you." Aria smiled at her and thanked her quietly again before eating. She tried to eat like any normal, polite person would, but she was ravenous from not eating the rotten food she was given in A's lair.

When she'd finished, Spencer took the bowl downstairs and came back up. She looked serious and asked, "Aria, do you plan on going to school tomorrow? I don't want you to overwork yourself after what you've been through. But it really is your choice."

Aria looked at her and nodded. "I don't want to make up any more work than I have to. I'd rather go to school tomorrow than make up loads of work some other day." Spencer looked at her for a few moments, as though judging whether or not she should really believe that going to school was the right idea for Aria right now.

Then, she nodded and said, "Alright." Aria smiled. For a little while longer they talked and Spencer did homework and had dinner; her parents were out of town, so she did this herself. It soon got late, and the two went to bed.

Aria fell asleep quickly, as was expected, and dreamed.

_Aria was in the cellar again. 'How did I get back here?' she wondered. Hadn't she gotten out? She pulled at the chains on her hands, but they only tightened when she did so. She began to panic. Why couldn't she get out? Why was she here? Was she kidnapped again? She couldn't have been, not right out from under Spencer's nose._

_ Then again, it had been a similar situation when she'd been taken the first time. She took slow, calming breaths to try and think and figure out what exactly was going on. Just then, she heard footsteps coming down the wooden stairs. She hoped that this person would explain to her what was going on, like Ezra had when she first was here._

_ But the figure wasn't Ezra. Nor was it the redhead whom she'd nearly killed. No, it was the masked figure, the same masked figure that had come down the steps to give her the third and final punishment. Her eyes widened. What was going on?_

_ The person laughed maniacally and took out a knife. He held it high above Aria. Aria's eyes grew to twice their size, and she screamed as the man prepared to plunge the knife downward. As he did, Aria had a short, not well thought-out reaction. She jammed her arm up and grabbed his wrist, holding the knife away from her._

_ But he was stronger than she was. His arm slowly moved toward her as she struggled to keep the silver point away from her chest and head. _

_ "SPENCER!" She called out as the knife was thrust into her body._

Aria woke up screaming, tears rushing down her cheeks. Spencer was awake immediately and had her arm around Aria's shoulders, rubbing her back soothingly. "Aria, Aria, it'll be okay. I'm right here. You're safe. It was just a nightmare."

Aria looked at Spencer and her screams diminished, but she still continued to sob softly. "It felt so real," Aria whimpered.

"I know," Spencer said, "But it's over now. You're safe; I'll make sure you're always safe." Aria smiled at the reassuring words and hugged Spencer. Then the two of them lay back down, this time with Spencer's arms wrapped loosely around Aria to comfort her.

Spencer fell asleep immediately, but Aria struggled to. It was then that her phone went off, and she knew she wouldn't be able to sleep at all for the rest of the night. She reached her phone so as not to wake Spencer and read the message in silence, holding back any noise of horror she might make.

_'Spencer can try to protect you, but you're never really safe. –A'_

**Sooo? Was it good? Huh? Did you like it? I hope so! This chapter was calm, yes, the "calm before the storm" maybe. There'll be more drama and more fluff, I promise!**

** Review review review I love reviews**

** And to all of my lovely followers and favoriters and reviewers out there**

** I love you all and I love that you love this story**

** Until tomorrow.**

** Xoxo,**

**-England**


	7. Bigger Than We Thought

Emily sat at the table in Hanna's house, leaning on her hand and waiting while Hanna made them each coffee. Emily smiled as Hanna brought the two mugs over and gave Emily a quick peck on the lips before sitting down across from her and sliding the coffee over to her.

Emily smiled as she sipped hers. "I'm so glad that this turned out the way it did," she murmured.

Hanna nodded. "I agree with that." She was silent for a moment before looking at Emily. "When do you think we should tell Aria and Spencer?"

Emily shrugged. "If Aria's in school today, I don't see why we shouldn't just do it in school."

Hanna smiled. "That sounds great."

The two of them took a little while longer getting ready before heading to school. When they got there, they looked for Aria and Spencer, but found that neither was there yet. So they headed to first period to wait.

Meanwhile, previously, at Spencer's house, Spencer got up immediately when the alarm went off. Aria didn't budge. She just continued to lie there asleep. Spencer rolled her eyes affectionately and shook Aria awake. "Come on, get up. We need to get going."

Aria blinked and mumbled, "What? Huh? I'm up. I'm up." She rolled out of bed tiredly and got ready half-heartedly before shuffling her way downstairs and sitting on the couch. Spencer came down a couple minutes later and looked at Aria, concerned. Aria noticed this and looked at Spencer. "Why are you staring at me like that? I'm fine."

"You seem awfully tired," Spencer said. "Are you sure you want to go to school? We could ditch, and I could ask Hanna or Emily to pick up the work."

Aria narrowed her eyes and said, "Spencer, I'm sure that I want to go to school. Now can we please just go?" Spencer looked at her for a while before sighing and caving, nodding and muttering, "Right, let's go."

The two of them got to school and headed straight to first period. Spencer noticed that as soon as they walked into the building and were crowded with people, Aria shied away from them, standing as close to Spencer as she could. Spencer looked at her small friend and noticed how her eyes sparkled with fear, and her face was paler than it normally was.

She rested a reassuring hand on Aria's, and Aria smiled faintly at her. When they got to first period, Aria sat in the far back corner, and Spencer sat next to her. Emily and Hanna shortly came over to join them, having been sitting in the middle of a group of people before the two other girls entered the classroom.

Hanna and Emily grinned at each other, and then looked at Aria and Spencer, who now seemed confused. But only slightly; they'd already caught on to Emily and Hanna's behavior. "We have something to tell you," Emily said in her calm voice, knowing that if Hanna told them she'd probably burst with bubbly excitement.

"What's that?" Aria asked, a playful smile persistently sitting on her face no matter how much she tried to force it off for the sake of her friends' excitement. It'd ruin their 'surprise' if she just came out with already knowing what they were going to tell her and Spencer.

Emily opened her mouth to respond, but Hanna let out an impatient squeal. "We're dating!" Hanna laughed, and Emily gave her a look before bursting into laughter as well. Aria's grin grew to twice its size and Spencer's eyes shone with happiness for them.

"That's great guys," Spencer said happily. "Really, it's about time you both got together."

All four girls laughed, and then the teacher entered and slowly did more of the class. Shortly after, class started. The beginning of the day went normally, and Aria seemed to slowly adapt to the many people- though she did still get nervous when she was in the halls, and she wasn't sure if that discomfort among crowds would ever go away now.

Soon lunch rolled around, and the girls all sat at one table. They were laughing and talking as usual when a strange looking girl walked up to them all. They all gave her curious looks, but the girl was only looking at one person; Aria. She smiled, though it was a sickening fake sort of smile, and sat on the edge of a seat as though she were going to have a short chat and be on her way.

"What happened to your arm?" The girl asked pointing to Aria's broken arm. Aria looked down at it, then back up at the girl before her.

"Oh," Aria said, "I tripped and fell and had a nasty fracture. It's getting better now though." The girl eyed Aria suspiciously, and then looked at the other three girls, her eyes glimmering with a slight curiosity. She looked at each of them carefully in turn, before standing up and nodding.

"Right, well, that's too bad. Broken bones are never fun. I hope it heals quickly." Aria nodded her thanks to the strange girl who then hurried off. Then she turned to her friends.

"Who the heck was that?" She asked, but the other three just shrugged. She raised an eyebrow in confusion and looked back in the direction the girl had left. Shrugging, she went back to her normal conversation with her friends, pushing the weird girl to the back of her mind and focusing on the conversation at hand.

When lunch ended, they headed to class, and Aria trailed behind. Her phone went off suddenly, and she pulled it out, reading the message and feeling sick to her stomach immediately.

_'I'm not done with you yet, Aria. Keep your guard up. Anyone you see could be your enemy. –A'_

Aria shuddered and hurried to catch up with her friends, shoving her phone in her pocket and biting back the urge to tell her friends about A's texts. This was her battle with A. Some things required all of them, but this stuff was all meant for Aria, and she was determined not to get her friends too involved in anything that could prove dangerous.

The rest of the day would have gone just as smoothly for Aria as it had the beginning of the day, if she could focus, which she couldn't. She stared off into space throughout most of her classes, and when she was asked a question, she would stare bewildered for a moment before blurting out something irrelevant to the subject and the question as an attempt as an answer.

The teachers passed her zoning out off as nothing more than a bodily reaction to the beating she'd gotten to her body when she'd "tripped and fell" but Spencer, Emily, and Hanna knew it was probably something much more than that. The three of them murmured about their friend's state as soon as they noticed in the halls, and it was agreed that Spencer would try to get some information about it out of Aria when they went home.

After what felt like an eternity, the time to go home came. Hanna and Emily waved to Spencer and Aria before going to Hanna's car. Emily had her arm draped over Hanna's shoulders, and Spencer smiled at their unconditional love for each other. She then turned her attention to her own car, which Aria had already gotten into and was just sitting in, staring out the window with that same blank expression she'd had since lunch.

Spencer got in the car and they drove in silence back to the Hastings' household. Spencer cast wondering glances over at Aria the entire car ride, but the little brunette didn't seem to notice her friends confused looks. If she did, she made no effort to acknowledge it.

When they pulled up, Aria got another text. She whipped out her phone quick as lightning and was suddenly more alert than she'd been all day.

_'Watch your back. I doubt you trust me to watch it for you. –A'_

The Aria that had existed before being kidnapped would have scoffed at the message and assumed that it was just A trying to stir her up, which is exactly what it was, but knowing the possible things that could happen to her now, having stared death in the face, she knew better than to think of that hopeful possibility.

She put her phone away once more, and got out of the car, finally aware of Spencer's gaze burning into her. She looked at Spencer as they walked in and asked, "What's up?"

"I'd just like to know why you've been in la-la-land since lunch." Spencer said. "You were fine this morning, and all through lunch, and then next period came and you were gone." She had a stubborn look in her eyes and Aria sighed in defeat, knowing that if Spencer was stubborn, she would never win.

"I got a couple texts from A," Aria confided. "One last night, saying I'm never safe, one in school, telling me that anyone around me could be A waiting to get me, and one just now telling me to watch my back. I'm scared; I've always been scared of A, but it's so real now. The fact that A could just take me without anybody knowing…"

"Hey," Spencer said, "You know I won't let that happen again. Hanna and Emily won't let it happen. You are safe, okay? We're going to do all we can to keep you safe. You do the same for us all the time anyways. You can trust us."

Aria nodded with a smile. "I do trust you." She said softly. "Of course I trust you. And I trust that you'll try; but sometimes trying comes with failure." Her voice shook on the end and Spencer suddenly couldn't take her friend's pessimistic attitude anymore.

Spencer pulled Aria into a hug and she felt Aria's good arm loop around her waist in a return hug. "Snap out of this attitude Aria." Spencer murmured into her strawberry-scented hair. "Be the optimist I know that you can be."

Aria sighed and smiled, relaxing into the hug. "I'll try, Spence." She said. Spencer grinned brightly and her next words didn't shock Aria at all.

"Good. Let's do our homework now!"

Meanwhile, Hanna and Emily sat on Hanna's bed, talking about random things and laughing about the silly things they came up with to talk about. Downstairs, they heard the door close as Hanna's mom walked in.

They continued to talk and laugh until finally, Hanna's mom called up to them.

"Hanna? Who's up there with you?"

"It's just Emily mom," Hanna called back. Her mom responded with an 'ok' then an 'I'm going to make dinner.' Hanna grinned at Emily with a twinkle in her eye and waited until her mom stopped saying anything to them to say what was on her mind.

"I wonder how long it'll take for our parents to catch onto our relationship," Hanna giggled. "It certainly didn't take Aria and Spencer long beforehand." Emily nodded with a smile.

"Guess we'll just have to wait and see, huh?"

The two girls then started watching random funny videos of cats.

At Spencer's house, she ordered a pizza and then sat down to do homework with Aria. When they finished what homework they had to do, including Aria's work that she had to makeup, they popped in a movie on the TV and watched it while talking about stupid things.

Spencer sat with her arm around Aria, feeling content knowing that she had Aria with her and knew that she was safe. Suddenly, she felt a flutter of some weird emotion in her chest, an emotion that she wasn't used to feeling often. 'What the heck?' Spencer wondered, but shook off the thought and went back to watching the movie and carrying the pointless conversation with the small girl sitting next to her.

But Spencer couldn't deny that she cared deeply for her friend. Even if it wasn't exactly romantic love, she didn't know what she'd do without the girl sitting next to her. That's when she really started to think about what Aria had said about the text messages. A was giving Aria a hard time, and A was never one to give up.

Spencer thought about the strange girl who had seemingly targeted Aria at lunch today, and seemed suspicious of Aria's injury and of her, Hanna and Emily. Her heart began to pound a little faster in her chest, and she had to tighten her hold on Aria a little to remind her that she was there.

Aria could be in more danger than they thought. They call could be in more danger than they thought. They'd found Aria, but this could be the start of something bigger than they could have imagined.

**Yeah so, this chapter is pretty boring... But I mean, what's a story with never ending drama? There needs to be calm and fluff to balance out the crazy stuff right?**

** Now, I'm going to warn you all. I am going to do my best to update every day, or every couple days, as I promised, but dance competitions start soon, and homework is piling, tests are making their way toward me, and I'm going to be busy busy busy. So please, don't be hatin' if I can't update as much as I'd like.**

** I'm still going to plan for my update-every-day goal though, so don't you worry :D**

** Until next time,**

** Xoxo,**

**-England**


	8. She Ran Away

Later that night, Spencer and Aria got ready for bed. Aria got into bed and stared out the window, waiting impatiently to feel tired, which never happened. She sighed and rolled over a couple times, wincing when she bumped her broken arm, and then stared out the window again. She didn't know if Spencer was asleep or not, but if she was awake, she didn't do anything to show it.

Aria sighed and closed her eyes for a moment, but then she saw a flash behind her eyelids. She opened her eyes quickly and swore she saw a face glaring at her from the window. She let out a squeal and leaped nimbly out of bed, ending up pacing back and forth frantically. At this point, Spencer woke up, or at least, showed that she was awake.

"Aria… what's wrong? What's going on?" Spencer said, rubbing her eyes and sitting up, looking at Aria worriedly. Aria shot her a nervous look, and Spencer was shocked by how unusually pale she was. She looked positively horrified. Aria let out a weak whimper. "Aria, tell me what's wrong." Spencer commanded softly, "Come sit by me. Please, just stop pacing."

The nervous brunette paused in her pacing and finally, slowly, moved over to Spencer and sat down next to her friend. Spencer put her arm around Aria and felt her shaking. Aria said in a shaky, weak voice, "Spence… I saw it… I saw A… I swear, I saw A, watching us from outside." She whimpered again and tears finally began to stream down her face, as though she'd recovered from the shock.

The taller girl looked out the window in confusion. "Aria, no one's there, okay? It was probably just your imagination." Aria began shaking her head stubbornly, her eyes getting a hardened look to them. She looked at Spencer indignantly, her face stony.

Despite her tough look, Aria's voice still shook with terror. "I know what I saw Spence."

Spencer frowned, wishing she could do more to help her emotionally and possibly mentally unstable friend. Eventually, she managed to get them both back lying down on the bed under the covers. Spencer kept her arms wrapped securely around Aria's tiny body, and Aria buried her face into Spencer's neck, crying herself to sleep.

As her eyes gazed out the window that Aria had been so sure she saw someone behind, Spencer wondered if it was true or not. She refused to come to terms with the idea that Aria was insane; knowing A, Aria could have very well seen someone. Even if it had been her imagination, Aria was dealing with a traumatic time. 'She's not insane,' Spencer thought, 'this is just from the stress of what happened. It'll pass.'

With that, she closed her eyes, tightened her hold on Aria, and fell into the warm and welcoming arms of sleep.

Aria was the first to wake up again; a mere two minutes before the alarm would blare that woke them up each morning. Spencer's hold on her had loosened enough that she could wiggle her way out and begin getting ready without waking the other girl up.

But Aria couldn't get ready. She stood up and her eyes focused on something on the wall. In red lipstick, there was a huge "A" written on the wall. Aria's heart dropped to the bottom of her stomach, and she stared in horror and disbelief at this indication that A had indeed been there while they were both sound asleep.

Moments later, the alarm went off, and Spencer woke up too. When she saw what Aria was staring at, she covered her mouth to keep a scream from escaping her lips. She took Aria's good elbow and turned her away from the scene, telling her to keep getting ready and she'd clean up the lipstick. Aria did just that, but in a very monotonous and robotic manner.

"We'll have to tell Hanna and Emily about this as soon as we get to school. Maybe one of them got an A message too," Spencer suggested when she'd gotten ready as well and the two of them were preparing to leave the house. However, both of them knew, deep down, that that message had been put there for and because of Aria.

As the wheels in Spencer's head turned, she began to develop a theory on this. Aria had made a mistake, which put her in a vulnerable state. "A" had taken advantage of this vulnerability and captured her in her moment of weakness. Then, to make it worse, "A" had saved the very person whom Aria's first issue revolved around. "A" was eating at Aria's wellbeing, driving her into a state of utmost weakness, because if one of the girls fell, they all fell.

'I won't let that happen,' Spencer vowed silently as the two of them headed to school. When they got in, Spencer strode immediately up to their blonde friend and dark brunette friend and gave them a very serious look, interrupting their giggling and earning their dead serious faces in a matter of seconds.

"What's up?" Hanna asked, moving her books from her hands to the inside of her elbow, where she could balance them on her hip in a more comfortable position than before. Emily leaned back against the lockers, hugging her books to her chest. Both of them had the same, concerned expression etched across their faces as they looked from Spencer to Aria.

It wasn't Spencer who answered though, despite her serious look. "This morning, a huge letter 'A' had been written on Spencer's wall in red lipstick. It happened while we were both asleep," Aria explained, her eyes betraying her fear despite her finally steady voice and courageous looking face.

"We were wondering if either of you got some sort of message of any kind from 'A.'" Spencer finished. Hanna shook her head, but Emily had a more thoughtful look on her face. This caused all attention to be directed to her.

"No one was home at my house to do this," Emily explained, "But this morning, I almost went to make coffee, but the coffee mix had been replaced with dirt. Now that I think about it, there was an 'A' on the bag." Hanna raised her eyebrows, wondering for a moment why her girlfriend hadn't mentioned this, but then merely assumed that she hadn't thought to bring it up.

All eyes turned to Hanna then; the only one who hadn't been affected by "A" this morning.

"Hanna?" Spencer asked. Hanna just responded with a shrug.

"I didn't pay attention to much this morning," Hanna said, "If I got some sort of sign that 'A' had been there, I probably missed it."

"Well then," Aria said, "We'll just have to go and look around to see if there is one after school." The other girls nodded in agreement, and then they all headed to first period, as they were cutting it close and were just about to be late to class.

The day seemed to drag on. All four girls were anticipating what might be waiting for them at Hanna's house. They weren't excited, exactly, but not nervous either. They were merely on edge, like a bird poised to fly off but then never quite getting the chance to do so, due to a gust of wind or another bird flying in the way.

When lunch came around, they held a tense silence for a while, broken only by the occasional failed attempt to start a conversation. Oddly enough, the girl who had been there the day before and pointed out Aria's broken arm showed up again, sitting across from Aria and eyeing all four of the girls with curiosity, making them all, to say the least, uncomfortable.

Finally the girl spoke. "You four seem awfully quiet. This doesn't seem normal. It seems like you guys are always talking, and it always looks like whatever you talk about is extremely interesting." She held up a hand and studied her fingernails with obvious boredom in her eyes. "This is far from interesting," she murmured, before putting her hand back down.

Her eyes dragged across them all, and they each shifted in their seats, feeling very awkward under the cold eyes of this strange girl. "Am I not allowed to hear what is oh so interesting that you guys always must go on about?" she said harshly, "You should tell me. It's not good to keep secrets. People will only wind up getting hurt."

With that, the strange person stood up and whipped away, walking off in a flash. The others looked at each other with weird looks. "That person was like Ali," Hanna said, breaking the awkward silence that had ensued after the departure of the stranger from their table, "Only a lot more awkward than Ali. But just… the things she said. The way she said them… it reminded me of Alison."

Spencer nodded in agreement. "Yeah, Hanna; I can see where you're coming from with that." Emily nodded in agreement. Aria meanwhile was glaring at the girl from across the room, her eyes betraying annoyance, but also a sort of weariness, as though she was holding back from pure annoyance that threatened to fill her features.

She then tuned into what the others were saying and, upon hearing that they thought the weird girl was a lot like Alison, immediately agreed as she realized the resemblance. Left on that bad note, the girls went to their next class, and waited for the rest of the day to drag its way through.

When they finally got out of school, all four of them headed straight to Hanna's house. When they arrived there, they launched into a search for anything suspicious, their eyes scouring everything that they thought a message from "A" might be in.

After about ten minutes, they had covered a vast majority of the house, and had still found no evidence that "A" had been there. That's when something occurred to Emily. "Hanna," she began, "Is there anything that you usually do in the morning… anything that you didn't do this morning?"

Hanna looked thoughtful for a moment then said slowly, "Well, I did skip breakfast." They all hurried to the cabinet in which Hanna kept cereal, and that's when they noticed it. There was a bottle in there that had never been there before. Hanna grabbed it and read what it said on the back; it was for if you ate something that would have given you food poisoning; it was to make you vomit. She narrowed her eyes when she saw an "A" on it.

"Damn," she said, throwing the bottle angrily in the trash, knowing that "A" specifically left that to get to her about her previous bulimia. "'A' sure is relentless," she muttered, glaring at the trash where she had tossed the bottle, staring right where that dreadful 'A' would be.

Aria stood glaring at the trash can for a moment longer, lingering when the others turned to go talk about these latest discoveries. She then whipped around. Her eyes had a wild glint to them, and her face was almost sickly pale, but she followed them nonetheless and sat down, crossing her arms and staring at her feet as she remembered the redhead's cruel promise, that she'd make Aria's life miserable by working with 'A.'

'"A" is going after me this time,' Aria thought, 'And I'm dragging my friends along for the ride.' She looked up and suddenly knew what she thought needed to be done. It was her time to be "A's" target. She wouldn't make her friends become a part of this battle. She was perfectly still and remembered when Hanna got hit by the car because she knew too much; when Emily got an ulcer; when Spencer was in the bell tower. They had all been together then, in it together; but this time, Aria knew the situation was getting a lot bigger. "A" had _captured _her. That could give "A" confidence, and Aria couldn't put her friends in danger because of her.

Aria stood up and said, "I'm going to head to my house and get some stuff," her voice was soft and smooth, but Spencer detected shakiness beneath it. "Then I'm going to head to Spencer's. You guys can stay here and talk… I think I'm just going to take a nap. I didn't get much sleep last night."

"Okay," Emily said, "Stay safe." Aria smiled and nodded, then left. She went to her house and got a duffle bag, throwing a ton of clothes into it and other supplies. She then took her car and got her monthly allowance that her parents had sent her and got the rest of her things that she had at Spencer's. She threw it in the back of her car and left a note for Spencer, Hanna, and Emily, before driving off.

Aria stopped the car at the edge of town, took her bag, and went off into the woods, knowing that it was for the best. She'd keep her phone until it died, to see if she got any texts from "A." She'd wait a few weeks, maybe less, maybe more, and then return. But for now, while "A" was so intent on targeting her, she'd stay away, and maybe her friends would be safer without her.

Laying out a blanket she'd brought with her in a clearing, she sat down and took a deep breath of fresh air. She could no longer see the buildings of Rosewood. It was just her and the forest. She smiled a little and fell asleep there, comforted by the thought that her friends were safe from her attraction of danger for the time being and by the idea that no one would find her out here.

Meanwhile, Spencer, Hanna, and Emily continued to discuss "A" and the messages that had been left, what they could mean. Eventually, they decided to think about it and talk about it again at school the next day, and Spencer left Emily and Hanna to have their lovey-dovey time.

When Spencer got home, she was confused to find that Aria wasn't there.

"Aria?" she called, "Are you here?" she went upstairs to her room and found a note on the bed and all of Aria's things gone.

_Spencer, Hanna, and Emily_

_ This is for the best. I'm "A's" target for now. You all know that. So, I've left. Please, don't try to follow me. I'm doing this to protect you. If I'm still alive in a few weeks, I'll come back, but I don't want to put you guys in danger. I'd like to just wait until all of this "A stalking me" stuff calms down, and then I'll return._

_ -Aria_

Spencer groaned in anger and annoyance. "Damn it Aria!" she shouted, wishing she had followed Aria instead of letting her leave on her own. Didn't Aria know that none of them were ever safe from "A"? Didn't she know that even if she left, they'd still be bound by this insane stalker- or, well, group of stalkers?

"I will find you Aria," Spencer muttered, "And I won't let you out of my sight."

Aria awoke in the woods and yawned. It was getting dark. She sighed and was suddenly aware of what she'd done. She was alone, in the woods, night was falling, she only had what little materials she brought with her, and an insane murderer was after her. But she'd lost all sense of direction; she probably couldn't find her way out of these woods if she wanted to. She kept reminding herself that it was for the better, and fell asleep once more.

Hanna and Emily sat, laughing and talking, for a while, before they each got a text from Spencer saying that Aria had run away. Their laughter and happy mood stopped and they stared at each other for a moment, dumbstruck.

"She's going crazy," Hanna said finally, to break the silence. "She hasn't been acting normal since we found her in that basement. She's gone insane, and now we've let her run off." Emily began to cry, tears sliding down her cheeks slowly. Hanna joined her crying, and the two of them hugged, comforting each other while they cried.

Spencer, meanwhile, had nobody, and just sat and stared at the wall. She knew that next week would be summer break, but a week was too long to wait to look for their missing friend. She decided to leave that second. She went out, got in her car, and drove around for a while. She was determined. She would find Aria.

** Agh. Chapter 8. I don't know why I had Aria run away. This was not in my plans. It just felt like something that needed to be done. **

** On the plus side, we now have Aria's-insanity-factor haha.**

** Hope you enjoy~**

** Until next time,**

**Xoxo,**

**-England**


	9. Be Happy While You Can -A

Spencer drove and drove. Finally, she saw Aria's car. A thrill rushed through her and she jumped out of her car, running over to Aria's, only to find the key gone from it and it empty. Groaning, she looked around, wondering where on earth her friend could have gotten to. She looked towards the well-lit roads and knew that if her friend had any shred of logic she wouldn't have gone that way. Then, she turned toward the forest.

_'Bingo,' _Spencer thought, beginning to head into the woods. But it was no easy task travelling through it and looking for someone in it. The deeper she got, following the trampled undergrowth and shallow footprints, it became harder to tell where she was going as the trees tended to grow closer together deeper in these parts. Just when she thought she should give up and look again the next day, she saw a clearing up ahead, and a shape. But just as she got close, the shape was gone.

Spencer heard the rustle as the shape she had seen tried to go deeper into the woods, but she broke into a run. The figure, now, Spencer could see that it was human even through the darkness, began to run as well, but Spencer was faster, and grabbed her wrist before she could go any farther.

"Let go of me! Let go of me, please!" Aria cried hysterically, struggling against Spencer, who merely pulled Aria into her chest and held her there. Aria clung to Spencer, though she tried to pull away, her body couldn't seem to do what her mind told it to. Instead, it acted on its own accord, listening to her heart instead.

Spencer sighed. "Aria…" she said. "This isn't just about you; it's about all of us. We've all been a target, and you were always there for us. It's only fair that we're here for you while 'A' is after you specifically, alright? Hiding won't help anybody; you know that."

Aria looked into Spencer's eyes and Spencer was taken aback by the dark, empty void that filled her eyes. "I don't know what I know anymore Spencer," Aria said, her voice shaking. "Nothing seems real to me. I'm confused. Living is so _hard_. I can't do it anymore Spence. I just can't do it."

"Stop…" Spencer whispered, "Aria, _living _is hard? Cut it out. You need to snap out of this, you're scaring me."

"We're all going to die anyways. We'll never know who 'A' is; we'll die before then." Aria said monotonously, her eyes staring blankly at the ground in front of her, unaware of Spencer's horrified stare that bore into her.

"Come on," Spencer said, forcing her voice to stay steady, "we're going back to my house Aria. We've finished everything in school for this year, so I'm not going to leave your side. We _will _find out who this 'A' is and we _will_ survive. I promise you that. I don't want to hear any more talk of wanting to die."

Aria nodded blankly and followed Spencer numbly back to her car. Aria got in her own car and followed Spencer back to her house, knowing that it would be stupid now to try and run away again. When they got back to Spencer's house, Spencer helped Aria to lie down on the couch, and went to get her a glass of water. Meanwhile, Aria had a new text message.

_'It seems you're the only one who realizes how this game is going to play out. –A'_

Aria shut her eyes and leaned her head back against the pillow behind her head. She set her phone down on the table beside her and stared at the ceiling. Spencer walked back and handed the glass to Aria, who moved her eyes from the ceiling to the water before taking a tentative sip. Spencer sat at the foot of the couch, and then looked at Aria, who was now staring at her hands.

"Do you want to watch a movie?" Spencer asked. Aria merely glanced up at her. For a moment, her face betrayed no emotion, devoid of life, and Spencer was terrified. But then Aria gave a weak attempt at a smile, and there seemed to be a new light that lit her eyes.

"I'd love to." The girl said in a soft voice. Spencer smiled at her and turned on the TV, popping in a movie. The two of them sat and watched it. Eventually, Aria pulled herself out of her moping state and sat up, interest filling her eyes with a little more light than had been in them before. She seemed a little livelier, and Spencer was filled with relief. However, she had no idea how long that relief would really last.

It was extremely late when the movie ended, but since Aria and Spencer were ditching the last few days of school, they silently agreed that it honestly didn't matter. When it ended, Aria leaned her head against Spencer's shoulder, feeling a little groggy but not too tired as she'd gotten quite a bit of sleep earlier.

"Aria," Spencer said cautiously, her eyes searching Aria's expression carefully as she made sure that she didn't say anything too rash that would set the fragile girl off. "What you said in the woods- you can't seriously think that. You can't lose hope." Aria looked at Spencer sadly.

"I'm sorry," Aria said earnestly. "I'm so sorry. I did mean it when I said it Spence. I have faith that we can find out who 'A' is… but we've had so many close calls. Spencer, I don't know how to deal with this. This is new to me. I've never been targeted like this before. Sure, I've known the dangers, but this is all new to me, I mean, they almost killed me. Spencer… I'm… I'm _scared._"

The tall brunette looped a gentle arm around the shorter one's shoulders and smiled at her softly. "I know you're scared. We've all felt this way. I don't know what 'A' has told you, but I will protect you. Not 'I will try.' No, I will." Spencer felt her heart rate speed up again. She knew what it meant, but she couldn't bring herself to fully say it. "I really love you," Spencer said, hugging her friend gently.

"I know Spencer. Thank you."

MEANWHILE

Emily and Hanna were sitting and discussing all of the recent happenings that had been going on, when Emily got a text from Spencer saying she'd found and brought Aria back. Emily was quick to inform Hanna, and the two of them could relax and simply be a couple once more.

"I don't want to go to school tomorrow," Hanna groaned as she rested her head on Emily's lap. "School's practically out for summer break. I don't get why we always have to go for those last few days. We don't do anything!"

Emily nodded in agreement but then said hesitantly, "It's still important to go to school though." Her voice was calm and smooth, like water over stones. It held reasoning, and to most people, it would probably seem soothing. But Hanna was used to that tone of voice, and she wasn't buying it. So, she continued to attempt to convince Emily of her idea that they didn't need to go to school the next few days.

"Not if we're not doing anything," Hanna pointed out, pouting slightly. She rolled over so that her head wasn't on Emily's lap anymore and instead, her face was buried into a pillow. She groaned once more, as though that said absolutely everything to prove her point.

"Then let's just not go," Emily said, laughing, her eyes filled with a slight mirth. Hanna smiled brightly, glad that Emily had so readily taken the bait. She hugged her girlfriend and then sat back and threw her hands up over dramatically into the air.

Hanna laughed and said, "Thank you for understanding me!" Emily laughed at her dramatic show that she put on to show her utter thanks.

"You're adorable, Hanna," Emily said through her giggles. Hanna smiled brightly at Emily and hugged her slightly, her joy rolling off of her in waves that seemed to affect everything around her. The lights in the room seemed brighter, the colors more prominent, and Emily felt automatically happier.

The two of them settled down finally and made ramen noodles (which involved quite a bit of Hanna flinging noodles at Emily's face to get on her nerves) and then went to watch a movie, or some show. Emily had to wrap her hair in a towel because it got wet due to all the water and noodles that were launched into it.

At the Hasting's household, Aria and Spencer decided to go to bed. However, when they were in bed, Aria suddenly realized that she really wasn't tired. She pouted and looked up at Spencer, who tried to avoid looking at her adorable pouty face, but finally looked down at her and regretfully asked, "What?"

Aria smiled brightly. "Will you read to me?" Spencer laughed at her innocence, her heart seeming to skip a beat as she agreed to reading to the wide awake girl. She began reading, and Aria listened intently for a while before sleep tugged her eyelids closed and she fell asleep. Spencer smiled fondly at her as she put the book that she'd been reading to the side and shut out the lights.

Spencer knew that she had feelings for Aria, but she couldn't seem to come to terms completely with it. She was afraid to tell Aria, partially because she feared rejection and partially because she didn't want to do anything that could potentially break the girl that seemed to be made of china. She knew that it was there though, even though she didn't tell her friend.

Spencer sighed and waited a while before she felt tired, and then fell asleep, not very surprised to have a dream of the little dark haired girl who was so irresistibly endearing. A smile stretched lightly across Spencer's face as she dreamed, and for once, Aria wasn't woken by any terrible nightmares.

**Chapter nine. Fluffy fluff everywhere. We need drama. This is a terribly short chapter. I'm so sorry. Longer next time. I'm very tired.**

** You shall love this fluff. You shall love it and you shall never let it go.**

** Sort of how I love you guys when you follow, favorite, and REVIEW. So, uh, yeah, do that, thanks.**

** Until next time,**

**-England**


	10. We Saw A

Aria woke up early and went downstairs, sitting down and turning on the television to the news. She drew her knees up to her chest and listening only slightly. The news, Aria thought, was pathetic next to the things she and her friend were constantly putting up with. She then mentally chastised herself, telling herself that though what they went through was horrid, some of the things that were on the news could potentially be as bad in their own ways.

Flipping channels absentmindedly, Aria looked up and out the window through which beams of sunlight slanted through. The morning, she guessed, was already warm, as you would expect on a summer morning. Just then, however, on the sidewalk, she saw an odd sight, that she certainly did not expect to see. A figure stood, wearing all black and a black sweatshirt. It had to be 'A.'

Just then, the figure turned around, and stared right at Aria. The person smirked under their mask, and then walked on down the sidewalk as though nothing had ever happened. Aria stared in shock and fear after the person, standing up quickly, the TV forgotten, and rushing over to the window. She gazed out confusedly, wondering if she had really seen 'A' or if her mind was merely playing some sick idea of a trick on her.

But she knew it was real; there was no way it couldn't be. It was certainly no piece of her imagination. Shortly after her sighting of their stalker, when Aria had calmed down, Spencer came downstairs yawning and rubbing her eyes tiredly. Aria flashed a smile as she came down the steps, and then turned back to her channel flipping.

Spencer smiled back at her and went to get a drink and a muffin from the kitchen before returning and plopping down next to Aria, looking at the TV as she finally stopped on ABC Family, where they were showing a Harry Potter movie marathon. Spencer grinned at her, her eyes twinkling with amusement.

"You flip all those channels, Aria, and decide to stop on a Harry Potter marathon. That's just like you." Aria laughed, her eyes sparkling, inwardly feeling very excited that she had stumbled upon Harry Potter.

Aria looked at Spencer with a slightly playful expression alight her face and said in response to her jokingly, "What else would you expect?" Spencer chuckled as a response and the two of them were silent, not knowing exactly what to say.

"I'm glad you're happier," Spencer murmured in a soft tone, a ghost of a smile gracing her lips. "It hurts me to see you broken."

Spencer's shorter friend looked at her with a bright smile and replied truthfully, "So am I." The two of them fell silent once more. But then, Aria saw it again. It was merely out of the corner of her eye, and she hardly caught it, but she saw a flash of black and snapped her head up to see the masked person walking past again.

"Did you see that?" Aria gasped, turning her head to look at Spencer, searching for any sign that her friend might have seen the person walk past. But the lanky girl looked at her with a confused look, and Aria was suddenly well aware that she had indeed not seen the figure that had to be 'A' walk past the house suspiciously.

"See what?" Spencer questioned, but Aria was already shaking her head and forcing a smile.

"Nothing; just something silly… it was my imagination." She said, making her smile a little wider, relaxing when, after looking at her for a moment, Spencer nodded and broke eye contact. Aria let out a breath she hadn't been aware that she was holding and crossed her arms, thinking how lucky she had been to fool Spencer like that.

After a few minutes, Spencer glanced at Aria again and said, "Hey, why don't we do something fun today? Like, maybe we could go to the Brew and then go shopping." Aria smirked with a twinkle in her eye as she cast a glance over at Spencer.

"Spencer Hastings, are you turning into Hanna? Shopping?" Aria laughed, playfully mocking the idea that Hanna was always the fashonista and one to want to go shopping, and that naturally from Spencer you'd expect a suggestion along the lines of 'let's go do homework for fun.' Spencer just rolled her eyes and laughed.

"But yeah," Aria said in response to her suggestion, "I think that's a great idea." Spencer smiled brightly and the two of them went to get ready and head out. Aria occupied the bathroom once she'd gotten changed in order to apply makeup and make sure her hair looked alright. When she finished, her phone went off. Sighing with a feeling of dread, she read the text message.

_'Risking going out, are we? I'm proud of you. –A'_

Aria rolled her eyes, irritated at 'A,' and left the bathroom, meeting Spencer and informing her that she was ready. Spencer smiled, having been ready, and the two of them went out to head to the Brew and grab coffee before going on a shopping spree.

They did just this, and things were going quite well, with no text messages or weird events that could have been from 'A,' all day. However, that phenomenon could only last so long. As the two of them headed out of the mall, they both saw it this time. A person stood, leaning against the brick wall, reading a newspaper.

The person peered up over the edge of the newspaper as Spencer and Aria walked past, and both of them looked at the figure curiously. It was the same masked, entirely black-dressed person that had walked past Spencer's house twice that morning. As soon as the two girls noticed, Aria glared at the person, and Spencer took Aria's arm and pulled her closer as they walked to Spencer's car.

When they got to the car, they got in swiftly and hurried off, not wanting to risk being followed by the person in black. For a little bit, they merely sat there in tense silence, Aria white as a ghost and Spencer taking sharp breaths, a slight fear in her eyes.

"'A' is everywhere," Aria muttered finally, sounding downright irritated. "We can never get a moment of peace. Want to try and have a nice day? Oh, too bad, 'A' is going to ruin it. You can't have one moment of happiness it seems." Spencer swallowed and steadied her breathing before nodding in understanding and agreement.

"Oh well," Spencer said finally, "At least we got to have fun before that," Spencer smiled at Aria. "'A' bothered to wait at least until we were leaving." Aria was silent and motionless momentarily before giving a slight nod.

"Yeah," Aria agreed, and the two of them fell into a more comfortable silence this time. Soon, they pulled up at Spencer's house, and the two of them got their things and went inside, each trying to take their minds off of the events that occurred just before. Spencer looked at the time, thinking of ways to try and brighten up the situation.

"Hey, Aria, why don't we see what Hanna and Emily are up to? Maybe they can come over and we can just talk and have fun. Plus, I love seeing them together. They make an adorable couple." Aria smiled brightly at Spencer's suggestion, and she nodded eagerly, before agreeing with the fact that they were a cute couple and it was wonderful seeing them as such a couple.

Meanwhile, previously that morning, Hanna awoke before Emily. She watched the other girl sleeping for a little bit, thinking she ought to let her sleep in, before her boredom got the best of her and she woke up Emily. She grinned brightly when she saw Emily sleepily blink her eyes a few times before yawning and sitting up.

"You know Emily; you're awfully cute when you wake up." Hanna giggled, earning a playful whack from Emily as a response to her joking. Emily yawned again as she finished waking up completely and then looked at Hanna, her eyes bright with the newness of being awake.

"Why did you have to wake me up?" Emily whined, "I was having the best dream. And of course, you had to go and wake me up."

Hanna sighed, looking at Emily with a slightly guilty expression written upon her face. "It was boring watching you just sleep. It was cute at first, but then it just got really boring. I'm sorry, waking you was against my better judgment, but it needed to be done." Emily rolled her eyes, but then smiled with a soft playfulness at Hanna.

"It's no problem. I'd probably wake you up, too. I love you, you goof." Emily leaned forward and planted a soft kiss on her girlfriend's lips before sitting back and smiling at Hanna, who was smiling with joy in her eyes and features everywhere.

"Come on, then." Hanna said, standing up and taking Emily's hand to pull her out of bed to her feet. "Let's go get this day started, shall we?" Emily nodded eagerly and the two of got dressed and made their hair look decent before heading downstairs. Emily sat at the table while Hanna got breakfast ready. She then gave Emily her breakfast and sat down across from her.

"So, what should we do today?" Emily asked the blonde girl sitting before her curiously over breakfast. Hanna got a thinking look on her face as she ate, clearly trying to think up ideas of things for them to do in their free time. Then she got a very bright and excited look on her face.

"Let's have a date!" Hanna said with a huge smile on her face. "We haven't had any _real _dates yet, so let's go on a date. We can go somewhere nice for lunch, and then we can go see a movie or something. What do you say?"

Emily smiled and said, "I think that's a great idea Hanna." For the rest of the morning, they got ready for their date, and then when the time came they went out. They went to a fancy restaurant, where the waiter immediately started trying to hit on both of them, apparently not getting the hint that Hanna and Emily were not two single girls but two girls in a relationship with each other.

So, Hanna straight up told him, and the look on his face was one of those priceless reactions that you wish you could have gotten on camera. After that issue was solved, Hanna and Emily were free to spend their day as they pleased, so long as no other guys came along and tried to flirt with either of them.

When they had finished lunch, Hanna and Emily headed to the movie theater to see a romantic movie and cuddle. After a little debate over the romance movies they could see, they decided on one and went to see it. The two of them cuddled throughout the entire movie, and between the two of them managed to eat three large bags of popcorn.

When the movie ended, the two of them planned to head home and just hang out for a while before seeing if Aria and Spencer were willing to hang out with them too. However, as they went to leave the movie theater, they saw a person walking toward the mall on the sidewalk, wearing all black and a mask. It had to be "A." The two of them exchanged a startled glance and hurried to the car.

They got home and walked inside, beginning to talk excitedly about what had just happened, both trying to figure out what on earth was going on, why "A" just blatantly walked straight past them on the street. They came up with a few ridiculous ideas, and a few good ideas that could potentially make sense, but none of them made perfect sense.

Emily decided to call Spencer, and just as she was going to, she herself got a call from Spencer. Surprised by this, she picked up the phone and held it up to her ear, asking a tentative "Hello?" Spencer asked if they wanted to come over, and she was happy to oblige.

When they got to the Hastings' house and walked in, Hanna and Emily kept serious faces on as they sat down with Aria and Spencer.

"What's up?" Aria asked, curious about their strange expressions.

"We saw 'A.'" Emily explained.

Aria and Spencer looked at each other in surprise, and then at Emily and Hanna, who also looked a little shocked at Aria and Spencer's reactions. So, Spencer explained.

"We saw 'A' too."

**Ternernernerner**

** Ohmygosh I love you guys. I really do. All of my reviewers. You just make me so happy. And my followers, gah. You're amazing. Those who favorite, omg, how I love you all so much.**

** And my reviewers! The fact that you take time to sit here and write your opinions and encouragement, I can't thank you enough. **

** I hope you all like this chapter, please give me suggestions, and to my fabulous followers, I'll be trying to update more.**

** Until next time,**

** Xoxo,**

**-England**


	11. These Threats Aren't Empty

Emily sat down, shaking her head and looking angry. She looked at the other three, who each had a different sort of look on their face. "You guys have to be mad too." Emily said finally. "'A' is ruthless. This isn't fair. None of this is fair. I could handle it when it was text messages, but now 'A' is actually showing their self without really showing anything. I can't put up with it anymore!"

"We're all a bit mad," Spencer agreed, nodding, before continuing, "but we can't do anything rash. 'A' knows everything, and we have yet to figure out how. If we do anything against 'A,' we'll be framed, blackmailed, or killed. That's how it's always been."

Hanna sighed and sat down next to Emily, putting her head on her girlfriend's shoulder with a slightly defeated look to her posture and expression. Her shoulders sagged and she frowned, her eyes half open. "I wish we could just figure out some way to manipulate 'A' the way 'A' manipulates us. Fight fire with fire, you know? But nothing ever works. They're always one step ahead of us."

Aria had remained silent all this time, but now she looked up with a dead serious in her eyes. She glanced over her shoulders, and looked around to make sure there were no lurking shadows. "I…" she took a deep breath, "I have an idea." All eyes shot to her and she almost shrunk under their harsh gazes.

"'A' thinks I'm vulnerable after all that's happened. Clearly, 'A' thinks we all are, because whoever it is is confident enough to show their presence now. But it all stopped when they kidnapped me." She took a moment to gather her thoughts before saying, "What if I staged another situation so that 'A' would 'capture' me again? I could find out just who this 'A' is, and then it's an even ball game."

Emily and Hanna looked at Aria with curious, interested looks on their faces, but Spencer on the other hand was shaking her head with a look of utter shock, horror, and anger etched on her features. Of course, this reaction drew the attention of the others. The center of attention moved quickly from Aria to Spencer, and they waited for her outburst.

"No." Spencer said when all eyes and ears were open to her and what she had to say. "No way," she shook her head again and said, "Hanna, Emily, how can you even consider agreeing to this idea?" She turned to Aria and looked her friend in the eyes. "I won't let you go again. I've almost lost you twice in the past week alone, Aria; you can't risk your life like this. It's a suicide mission. I can't lose you!"

There was silence that seemed to be louder than any yell or crash after that. Aria stared in surprise at how harsh her friend's voice had been. Emily was frozen, staring at Spencer with the same surprise that Aria had. Hanna was sitting, looking away, a hand over her mouth which had dropped open in shock when Spencer had yelled. The silence weighed down on all of them, and to say it was uncomfortable was quite an understatement.

Finally, amidst the painfully heavy silence, it was broken by Aria's soft voice. She choked out her words as though they scraped at her throat. "Spence… I know you don't want me to go, but what other choice do we have? My doing this is the best chance we've got of getting some idea of who 'A' might really be."

Spencer gave the shorter girl a long, hard look, before softening her expression slightly and allowing her braced shoulders to sag. "Can we at least wait until next week? If anything regarding 'A' gets worse before then, then you can go ahead with your plan, but if 'A' is just flouncing around us to stir us up, then I feel like there's no reason to go to such extremes yet."

Aria looked like she was going to protest, and she opened her mouth to do so, but then she closed it. She looked from Spencer, to Emily who was nodding in agreement with Spencer, and then to Hanna, who gave her a small nod. She looked at Spencer again and sighed in defeat, knowing this was a battle that she'd lost.

"Fine, Spence, you win. We'll wait." She smiled at how much brighter Spencer's face got. She pulled Aria into a tight hug and laughed, resting her nose on Aria's hair to breathe in the sweet smell of blueberry conditioner.

"Thank you," Spencer murmured before releasing Aria from the hug. She then looked at Emily and Hanna, who were wearing knowing smirks on their faces. Spencer narrowed her eyes at them and looked them up and down, as though she was trying to read their minds and actually getting somewhere with the attempt.

After analyzing them she said, "What's up with you guys? Why are you eyeing us like that?" Hanna chuckled and Emily's smirk grew wider as she struggled to suppress her laughter. Their eyes twinkled with light, and they shared a look that neither Spencer nor Aria could interpret. It was as though the two were talking telepathically, without really talking at all.

"You'll see, eventually," Emily said through her poorly covered giggles. This threw Hanna into a much more boisterous laughter, with set off Emily's laughter, and soon the two of them were practically dying of insane joy. Spencer and Aria looked at each other, then at the other two before deciding to let the situation go for the time being and just wait for them to calm down before doing something else.

Just then, there was a knock at the door. Everything fell dead silent and the four girls exchanged glances of wonder and confusion. Finally, Spencer got up and opened the door to see a girl standing there with a sickeningly fake sweet smile on her face. Her sugary expression made Spencer's stomach churn, and she swallowed thickly to keep from vomiting.

"Who are you?" Spencer asked warily, eyeing the stranger up and down. The girl had ridiculously red hair that gleamed in the light like fresh flames. Her eyes were a venomous green, and she had freckles and a scar across her forehead.

The girl giggled in a horribly fake manner and said softly, "Oh, my name is Penelope Chestnut. I'm sorry to interrupt anything, if I was interrupting anything." She stood on her toes with a forced little bounce to try to look like an innocent, childish girl. Her eyes peered over Spencer's shoulder, but Spencer moved to block her view of the other girls.

"I'm looking for Aria Montgomery." 'Penelope' said. "You see, I'm in her history class, and I just wanted to inform her of something from the days that she's missed!" Spencer glared at her and the redhead had to admit to herself that she was nervous to be encountering Spencer out of all of them.

"She missed something of importance?" Spencer said, standing taller and glaring down her nose at this person. "I should think not. All final exams have already been completed, and we're never given work after finals." She could see the nervousness in the strange person's eyes, and she felt a burst of satisfaction.

Just when she thought she'd almost handled it, Aria of all people walked up behind her. "Who is it, Spencer?" Aria asked curiously. Spencer gave her a look, then looked at the redhead, and moved so that Aria could see the person at the door. Aria's eyes flashed with recognition, and she felt a wave of dizziness hit her.

"You," Aria breathed, and 'Penelope' chuckled nervously, not wanting Aria to blow her cover to her friends. But to her luck, Aria was too shocked to do any such thing.

Flipping her red hair over her shoulder, the girl said, "Aria, how good it is to see you. I need to talk to you alone." Aria gave her a dark look, and then looked at Spencer, then back at the girl, who smiled at her as she twirled her hair gently with one finger.

"Fine," Aria said simply, and Spencer looked at them for a moment before hesitantly walking away from the two of them. Aria turned to look at the girl, who grabbed her good arm and yanked her outside, closing the door. Aria forced herself to not wince at the yank. She wouldn't look weak in front of this monster.

"What do you want?" Aria said, trying to sound irritated and nonchalant, as though she had better things to do than talk to this person, and she wasn't scared at all. She felt a slight jolt of pride rush through her as she pulled off this acting maneuver with ease and success, and this confidence took away some of her lingering fear.

The redhead's cheerful personality had melted away as quickly as summer dew; there one minute, gone the next. Her eyes glared down at Aria, who tried to stand taller despite her short size. "Look, bitch," the girl began, "I hope your last couple days have been nice. My threats were more than threats, though, and sooner than you expect, these happy endeavors won't be happening anymore. But I'd be careful what you say out loud. We hear everything."

"I don't understand what your issue is," Aria snapped in a low, deadly voice. "You know it was an accident. Can't we just forgive and forget? There's no changing the past, but look. You're alive now, aren't you? Can we please just forget what almost happened and be happy about what did happen? Nothing good comes from dwelling on the past."

The girl cackled, and Aria flinched at the harsh, loud sound. "You're really pathetic." The girl chuckled, leaning down to Aria's height. "What almost happened isn't the only reason I hate you. You perfect little thing, you always get away with everything, while the rest of us suffer. It's your turn. It's about time you stop weaseling your way out all the time and pushing others down as you go. Don't you think?"

Aria stared at her in shock as she smirked and walked off, her red hair swinging behind her just above her hips as she left. Aria stared blankly at the ground for a few moments before turning and walking back into the house. She closed the door as quietly as she could, the only sound coming from it being a soft 'click' noise. She walked in slightly and looked to where her friends were sitting; now having some random conversation.

She then looked at the staircase, and as softly as she could, she walked over to it and climbed the stairs. She didn't want to have to answer her friends' questions about the mysterious woman that she'd been talking to. She wasn't sure she'd know _how _to answer them, anyways. So she went upstairs and into Spencer's room, falling face-first onto the bed and breathing in the familiar scent of the pillow to calm her wandering mind.

The total amount of time that had passed, she was unsure of. It had to have been at least ten minutes before Aria heard someone walking up the stairs. She listened to the creaking of the floor as the person walked up the stairs and toward the room she was in. Then, the sound stopped, with only slight creaking as if from the natural shifting of weight of a person standing.

"Aria?" came Spencer's voice, "Are you up here?" Aria sat up and knew that she'd have to come out now. There was no point in hiding this from her friends, she told herself. Sighing, she headed out of the room to where Spencer was standing.

Spencer gave her a slight smile and said, "Come downstairs. If you don't want to be pestered, we won't pester you, but you don't have to sit up here by yourself." Aria gave her a thankful smile, glad that she understood why she hadn't gone over to them when she'd come back inside.

The two headed back downstairs and sat, chatting with Emily and Hanna for quite a while, telling each other about their day aside from the 'A' sighting. Emily and Hanna told Spencer and Aria all about their date, and Spencer and Aria in turn told them about their shopping trip. Emily teased Hanna by laughing and pointing out that it was normally her who wanted to shop.

After a while of talking, however, Emily and Hanna had to go. They planned to have their much needed 'alone time' that all couples needed that night. Spencer and Aria were left in silence, neither of them knowing quite where to go from there.

Finally, Aria decided to speak up. "Spencer…" she started slowly, looking at her hands which were folded neatly in her lap, "I feel like I ought to tell you what that girl was here for, earlier today, because obviously you know it wasn't about school work."

"Aria," Spencer replied, "Don't worry you don't have to—,"

"No," Aria interrupted, "I want to." She breathed in deeply before saying, "Apparently these past two days have been a 'break.' That girl was the girl I almost killed. She said to be careful what we say, because they know everything, and that there is more to her motives than just the accident. She said that I get away with everything and push people down in the process, and that it's our turn to suffer. That's _her _motive, and part of 'A's' motive."

Spencer frowned and hugged Aria gently. "They're insane. They all are, everyone who has ever been or helped 'A'. If they're not insane now, they probably were at some point. We'll get through this. We always do, don't we?"

Aria smiled and nodded. "You're right Spence," she murmured. Spencer smiled and released her from the hug, heading off to make something for them to eat. As she lay on the couch, her eyes watching the ceiling with a slight boredom in their glassy state, she began to recall the girl's words in her mind, and some in particular stuck.

'My threats are more than threats,' Aria remembered, and tightened her hands into fists. 'Well, if you're going to act on those threats, so be it.'

**Sorry I've been taking so long to update guys. School kills. But, I'm going to try to get back on my chapter per day schedule! :D**

**This will be considered Saturday's chapter, so another one will hopefully be posted later on. Next chapters are gonna be good. We're going to get some action omg yes. And where there's action, there is bound to be unfolding drama and fluff. The fluff might come a bit later though.**

**So, I need some input, reviewers. Should Spencer and Aria be a couple, or just be friends? I've been thinking about it, and with Spencer's developing feelings that I've started, it's hard to stop them abruptly in the middle of this. So, what do you think?**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

**Xoxo,**

**-England**


	12. Guns and Knives

The next day started as any normal day would. Aria woke up before Spencer again and got out of bed, changing out of her pajamas and into normal clothes and heading downstairs. She stopped at the foot of the stairs and narrowed her eyes, staring in front of her as though in deep thought. Something felt off. However, she couldn't pinpoint what.

Shrugging off the feeling of unease, she went to make pancakes while waiting for Spencer to get up. As she did so, she felt the paranoia grow stronger, and she couldn't help but glance over her shoulder or out the window every now and then. As soon as she finished making breakfast, Spencer came downstairs.

Aria put a couple pancakes onto a plate and got the syrup and butter out, giving the plate to Spencer. Spencer looked at it, then at Aria, and smiled. "Wow, thanks Aria. You didn't have to make breakfast." Aria just shrugged in response as she got her own pancakes and sat down.

"I wanted to." Aria said, "I had time to kill anyways. When I got up, I knew you weren't going to get up any time soon," she teased. Spencer rolled her eyes but had a smile on her face. The two of them were silent for a little while, and when they'd finished Aria got up to clean the dishes.

Finally, Spencer spoke up. "Do you want to go to the Brew for some coffee? Then maybe we can get with Hanna and Emily. I just really want to get some fresh air and a coffee, I don't know about you." Aria hesitated as she remembered her unease earlier, but then nodded; deciding it was nothing really and it had all been in her head.

So, the two of them headed out to go to the Brew, glad to see another warm morning. When they got there, they both got cappuccinos and sat down outside the building to drink them. They made small talk about how nice the weather was before deciding to go and see if Hanna and Emily were busy.

The two of them stood to go to Spencer's car. However, as they walked there, Spencer noticed something out of the corner of her eye. A shadow whisked by in a nearby alley. Aria was a little ways ahead of Spencer, nearing a parallel to the alley opening. Spencer narrowed her eyes at the figure, trying to get a better view of it.

Her eyes widened as she made out at least what the person was holding. It was a gun. Aria reached the parallel mark to the alley. Spencer lunged forward, and the whole moment seemed to burst into slow motion. Tears were already falling from Spencer's eyes, even though the shot was only being fired just then. There was a bang, and Spencer's hand wrapped around Aria's wrist, pulling her back.

"ARIA!" she screamed as this all happened, her tears sparkling in the early morning sunlight. Aria screamed suddenly in a mixture of shock and realization. She felt her back hit Spencer's chest and tight arms wrap around her stomach, pulling her back away just in the nick of time. She could feel the energy pulsating off of the bullet that passed inches from her chest.

Both of them were shaken, tears running down their cheeks and shock running through their veins like fire. Spencer, being intelligent as she was, knew immediately that they had to get out of there. Dragging Aria with her, she sprinted to the car, pushing Aria into the passenger's seat first before jumping into the driver's seat herself.

Spencer drove off as quickly as she could, towards Hanna's house. As they drove, she was painfully aware of Aria sobbing heavily in the seat next to her. She began to get concerned however, when Aria stopped crying and just stared blankly in front of her. Spencer hoped that she hadn't gone into a state of shock, as that could require serious medical attention.

When she pulled up outside of Hanna's house, she shook Aria's shoulder, letting out a breath of relief that she wasn't aware she'd been holding when Aria looked at her. Aria was pale, and terrified, but at least she wasn't unresponsive. She stared at her for a moment, feeling her heart beat with almost painful thuds in her chest.

Suddenly, she couldn't help the feelings that were built up in her chest. She took Aria's face in her hands and pulled her forward, kissing her with an urgency and fire that knocked Aria out of her scared state. Aria sat, surprised for a moment, before kissing back, feeling a slight thrill run through her. But then, the two of them broke away, and looked in opposite directions, both feeling slightly uncomfortable.

Spencer looked at Aria then and said quietly, "I'm sorry Aria… I… I shouldn't have done that. I was just worried about you and… I mean, I love you, Aria. I just had to." Aria looked at Spencer and smiled softly, still shaky.

"I-it's okay Spence. I love you too." A wide smile spread slowly across Spencer's face as tears of joy filled her eyes and she leaned forward to hug Aria, who hugged her back and hid her face in Spencer's neck, feeling comforted simply by being held in the gentle embrace of her friend.

The two of them pulled apart and got out of the car, Spencer putting an arm around Aria's shoulders protectively as the two of them headed into Hanna's house. After what happened, she didn't want to take any chances. She couldn't risk losing Aria again, and everything that kept happening was just adding to that.

When they got inside, Emily was sitting at the table, and looked at them curiously, surprised to see her friends looking so shaken up so early in the morning. Aria and Spencer sat down next to Emily and looked up only to be met by Emily's look that meant she wanted answers, and she wanted them immediately.

Spencer explained to Emily what had happened while Aria leaned on her shoulder, continuing to take deep breaths to calm her breathing, as she was still startled from almost being killed just minutes before. As soon as Spencer finished telling the story, Hanna came down and looked at the two of them in confusion. So, once again, Spencer had to tell the story.

When she had finished explaining what happened to Hanna, they all looked distraught and fell into an uncomfortable silence as they tried to make sense of it all. When it came down to it, what they all realized they really needed was to know who 'A' was and to know the identity of this mysterious redhead who seemed to be after Aria.

When the awkward silence was nearly unbearable, Aria sighed and said, "Guys please. It's really nothing." She wanted them to not worry about her, but she knew that after this event, that would be impossible. She'd made a drunken mistake, and now, she was going to pay for it in the worst way possible.

"Nothing," Hanna scoffed, "It's _nothing? _Aria, this isn't nothing, this is everything. You could have died today, and it wasn't a death that could have easily been stopped. If Spencer hadn't been as alert as she was, you wouldn't be here right now, and we'd have to deal with it!"

Emily and Spencer nodded in agreement, Emily's a simple agreeing nod, and Spencer's a vigorous sort of nod to make it clear that it certainly was more than nothing. Aria looked at them all, wishing that they could just let her accept her own consequences instead of ganging up against her.

Sighing, she shut her eyes, blocking out the thought that threatened to cross her mind; the thought that death would be so much easier than this never ending abyss of confusion that was her life. She quelled the thought and instead of thinking about that, just turned her head on Spencer's shoulder so that she could breathe in the familiar scent.

She listened as her friends began to discuss what had happened and what they could do about it, and found that it was hard for her to listen to when she knew that it would be much easier to just willingly go with 'A' in order to figure out who it was that was destroying their lives as best they could.

But they wouldn't have that. No, they would never stand for that, particularly Spencer who was unfortunately the one whom she lived with. She wished that it could be simpler for her, but simple for her seemed to be complicated for Spencer, and Spencer could be terribly stubborn at times, Aria had come to know this at a very young age when she had met Spencer.

She smiled softly to herself as she remembered how stubborn her friend had been, and how frustrated she'd gotten with her for being so stubborn. Only then did it occur to her that perhaps she should still be listening to her friends, for one of them may have managed to come up with a formidable plan against 'A.'

Much to her distress, however, they still had come up with nothing, and they were all still in peril. Just then, someone knocked at the door. Aria went to get up and get it, but Emily held up a finger as she stood up as well and went to get it, making Aria stay put. Emily came back a moment later with a box.

"It's some package," Emily said, "probably from 'A.'" All four girls now, including Aria who was shaken out of her personal thoughts, leaned forward to see what could be in the box. Lying inside the box was a butcher knife, daunting and dark, looking like it'd be the perfect choice of murder weapon for 'A.'

Aria took out the note that lie on top of the knife and read it aloud so her friends could hear what it said without having to lean over her shoulder. "I can't wait to see this covered with my favorite enemy's blood. Kisses, -A," she read, rolling her eyes as she did so and reading it in a sarcastic tone of voice.

Hanna sighed and muttered, "What are we going to do about this?" Her eyes flicked to each of the other three girls in turn before looking down at the knife before them. All were silent, and none knew the answer they were so desperately grasping for.

Spencer looked up and said, "We need to set guidelines. From now on, we need to up our game. 'A' is after Aria now, right? So, Aria, you just can't leave the house at all, unless it's only to go to someone else's house or to be in the yard."

Aria glared at Spencer and said, "I'm not as weak as I look."

"Yeah, well, you almost died today, and I don't want to risk that again." This earned yet another eye-roll from Aria.

"Next," Spencer went on, "the rest of us really need to start searching for clues. We need to figure out who 'A' is, because whoever it is, is out for blood now, and the sooner we figure this out, the sooner we can feel some degree of safety. Am I clear?"

"Yes ma'am," Emily said, trying to make a little joke to lighten the tense and serious mood. It earned a weak smile from Hanna and a poorly suppressed grin from Aria. Spencer however just nodded at her, glad that at least she was accepting her rules that she'd set.

The four of them continued to discuss these 'guidelines' for a while and how they were going to go about reaching their newly set goal, and then Aria and Spencer decided to leave, knowing that not only did they have these issues, they also needed to figure out just what was going on between them in terms of their friendship and relationship.

When Aria and Spencer got in the car, Aria shot Spencer a look immediately. "How can you expect me to stay inside all the time? I'll go nuts Spencer. I'll have to be thrown in the mental asylum." Spencer eyed Aria out of her peripheral vision.

"No offense, Aria, but you're already getting a little crazy from all this. I think you just need to get some sleep." Aria shook her head, biting her lip to keep herself from retorting harshly to her friend. Why couldn't they just accept that this was her fight? The fight with 'A' belonged to all of them, sure, but the fight with the redhead was hers, and that's what all of this 'I'm going to kill you Aria' stuff was about.

Aria decided to move on to a different topic. "Spencer… what are we?" this earned a confused look from the lanky girl driving. "I mean, are we friends? Are we… girlfriends? What are we?" Spencer smiled slightly.

"Aria, I was telling the truth when I said that I love you. I really _love _you. If you're up for it, I'd love to be able to say that we're dating." Spencer said, choosing her words with caution and care. This earned a bright smile from Aria.

"Of course, I'd love to say we're dating. So we're girlfriends." Aria said, laughing at the sound of it. Spencer smiled at the real genuine smile upon Aria's face, and the two of them broke into laughter. When they got back to Spencer's house, they went in, and had almost forgotten their fear in their happiness.

But someone hadn't forgotten their fear. Someone wouldn't forget their fear at all. And that someone was watching, because they were always watching, and as long as they were alive and free, they would never give the four girls that they were stalking a single moment of peace.

**As I said! A chapter a day! :D I made Sparia because I got only one review saying they wanted Sparia. So, here it is!**

** Sparia and Hannily sitting in trees. K-I-S-S-E-S-A**

** You see what I did there? Hehehe.**

** Until next time,**

**Xoxo,**

**-England**


	13. New Neighbor

Aria had her eyes half closed in the comfortable feeling of Spencer's hug. Her head leaned on Spencer's chest and she smiled at the sound of her heartbeat, a soft and steady sound that calmed her storming mind. She smiled as she snuggled her head into Spencer's shoulder, enjoying the warmth that she gave.

Spencer, meanwhile, was simply comforted by being able to hold Aria. She gently played with Aria's hair as she held the small girl in her arms, smiling softly at the feeling of the silky curls that looped down and defined her cheeks. She leaned her head back against the back of the couch and sighed, her fingers still running through Aria's hair.

For quite a while, the two were content to just cuddle like this and let a movie drone on in the background. Of course, they'd bothered to watch it at the beginning, but as it went on, the two of them became so wrapped up in each other's warmth that they lost interest in the movie and stopped paying attention to what was going on.

However, their peaceful state was interrupted by a knock at the door. Aria sat forward and Spencer dropped her arms from their place around Aria to stand up. Aria put the movie on pause, and Spencer went to the door, opening it with curiosity in her gaze. The girl standing at the door was one she'd never seen before.

The girl was about as tall as Spencer with short, straight brown hair that stopped just below her jawbone. She looked cheerful and innocent, with a strange shade of green eyes. Spencer eyed her for a moment, unable to help but wonder why this girl looked so familiar to her. It was almost as if she'd seen her just the day before, but she was sure that hadn't been the case.

The girl smiled her bright, cheery smile, and said, "Hi, I'm new here, I just moved in next door," she indicated to the house next to the Hastings' that had not been used for quite a while. "I'm pretty confused here, it's a lot to take on, a new place like this. I was hoping you might be able to help me out and be a friend."

Spencer gave a respectful smile and said, "Sure, I suppose. I don't see why not. I should warn you though, some pretty strange things happen around here." The girl just nodded, her silky brown hair swinging and lightly brushing the bottom of her jaws.

"I've heard. But Rosewood has always seemed like such an enchanting little town to me, it was a dream come true to move here for the summer. I'm glad to have such a kind neighbor as you, though." Spencer thanked her for the compliment. The two of them talked for a few minutes longer, making arrangements to help the new girl who said her name was Jessie get to know Rosewood. Shortly after this, Jessie left.

Spencer returned to her girlfriend, sitting down and opening her arms for Aria to fall into again. Aria leaned back against Spencer once more and readjusted herself so she could return to listening to the relaxing sound of Spencer's breathing and soft heartbeat and encase herself in the familiar and comforting smell.

"Who was that?" Aria asked, mildly curious but not too terribly concerned with the matter. She merely assumed that if it had been something from 'A,' Hanna, or Emily, Spencer would have told her about it as soon as she sat down or even before she sat down, as things such as these tended to be, as you might imagine, important to the tight-knit group of friends.

Spencer gave a little shrug and said, "She was a new neighbor. Jessie, she said her name was. She was just asking for our friendship, or if not friendship, kindness and acquaintanceship since she doesn't know many people here." Aria nodded in understanding and the two of them went back to their cuddling.

Meanwhile, in the house next door, Jessie entered and began to unpack. She wore a little smirk on her face as she looked in the mirror, gently playing with the short brunette hair that dipped down to her neck. She brushed the hair that stuck up near her part down into a smooth sweep and checked her makeup.

"Hmm," she murmured, "It's certainly lighter now that it's not so long. I do miss how gorgeously red it was. I feel like this brown color just doesn't suit me." Jessie sighed and went on talking to herself absentmindedly. "If I'm going to crush those girls though, I need to do all I can, and getting close to a person is the easiest way to break them."

She laughed and sat on her bed, looking at the many different types of dolls that lined the walls. There were little dolls, stuffed dolls, decorative china dolls, there were normal plastic dolls, baby dolls, even some which looked like animals, and all of them stared back at her with their fake, beady little eyes. Her eyes fell upon four in particular in the middle.

One of the four dolls had a lanky sort of body with soft brown hair that fell into wavy curls at the bottom. It wore a blazer over a blouse and jeans with boots to wrap up the sophisticated but trendy and cute look. This doll, Jessie told herself, was the first step to destroying the most important one.

Another doll was blonde, with wavy hair that had brownish highlights streaked throughout its hair. It had noticeable lip gloss and wore a cute and fashionable pink dress and clear heels with silver accents. This doll was important, and Jessie had yet to befriend it.

Similar to the blonde doll, another doll which Jessie had yet to befriend had darker skin than the others and dark, wavy brown hair. She wore clothes that were clearly comfortable but also made to be cute, and simple boots like the ones that the first doll wore.

Finally, Jessie's eyes fell upon her absolute favorite doll. It was the shortest doll, and was pale, but had dark brown wavy curls cascading down over her shoulders. It was wearing a different, cute, almost hipster sort of outfit, a jacket with a lacy shirt and shorts over tights with combat boots to match the jacket she wore.

As her eyes glanced over these four dolls, set up just in front of her bed as though at a show that was just for her to watch, she felt an overwhelming excitement build up inside of her and she just had to burst out with a stereotypically evil cackle-like laugh that resonated throughout the empty house and bounced off the walls, sounding ominously loud and repetitive. There was no way her plan could fail now. It was too perfectly and meticulously crafted.

Jessie stood up, admiring her work at moving in, and left the house, heading to the house of none other than Hanna, the next step in her master plan. When she got there, she knocked on the door, forcing her artificial bubbly and kind personality to resurface as it had when she had spoken to Spencer earlier.

Hanna opened the door, looking confused, and looked into the shockingly green eyes of the stranger. "Um, hi," Hanna said, "Who are you?" She looked uneasy, on edge even, like she was ready to flee if she needed to. She wasn't sure whether she ought to trust a stranger that just showed up at her house, especially given everything they went through.

"I'm Jessie," the brunette laughed happily, "Don't look so scared! I've just moved in right next to the Hastings, and I've just been heading around trying to make friends. You must understand, moving to a new town like this, alone and unexpected, it's nice to get to know people right away."

Hanna smiled lightly, unable to help it given the happy attitude and aura of this girl before her. "So you've moved in next to Spencer? I'm assuming you've already met her, then." Jessie nodded, and Hanna took this as a cue to continue. "She's really nice and smart; you'll love having her as a neighbor; Aria, too."

Jessie nodded and said, "I haven't met Aria yet, but Spencer was really nice. You two must be friends, then?"

Hanna laughed. "Oh, yes, we're very close, Aria, Spencer, Emily, and I. I could introduce you to Emily if you want. We're actually dating." Jessie nodded in agreement, buying right into Hanna's hospitality. The two of them slowly became great friends in the hour or so that they spent together before going to meet Emily.

Jessie's plan was going swimmingly. She'd befriended the four friends and it'd only been a few hours. It was easier than she'd expected it to be, and it almost felt like it'd been _too _easy. She thought they would have been more cautious, less trusting of people in Rosewood as they were constantly being stalked, but she felt as though she must have been wrong with that judgment.

At Spencer's house, the two of them suddenly got a text at the same time. Each grabbed their phone and looked at the message with mounting dread in their hearts, knowing who it was from and what it was probably about. Sure enough, their hunches were correct, and they mumbled sadly together what it said.

"Be careful what decisions you make. We're never leaving you alone. –A"

Aria rolled her eyes and stood up, anger filling her to the depths of her soul. She began to pace back and forth. "Why can't we be like normal people?" Aria cried, feeling her sanity slip from her grasp as it had before, when she'd been in the woods with Spencer. "I don't want to live like this anymore Spence!" she groaned and fell face-first into a chair, the stress building on her like mold.

"Aria, babe, it's going to be okay. I know how you feel. We all know how you feel," Spencer replied, feeling that it was right to be including Emily and Hanna in that statement. "It sucks, but we can get through it together. I'm sure of it."

"I just… can't," Aria muttered, her eyes flicking away from Spencer's face. She didn't want to see whatever emotion was there. She didn't want to have to look at the anger, the sadness, the disappointment or worry. She didn't want to see the pain, the longing, the sympathy or the confusion as she grasped for an understanding. She didn't want to know what was there, and so she refused to look.

However, she soon felt arms wrapped around her, and she didn't know what else to do other than hug Spencer back. She clung to Spencer like a person stranded in the ocean would cling to a life raft. Spencer, for the moment at least, was her sanity, and she couldn't let her go.

"I'm sorry, Spence," Aria said weakly, her voice shaky and drained, her face suddenly pale and tired. "I'm trying to hang on, I really am," she explained sadly, "but it's really hard. I'm tired of it all. I miss the days where I could go through life without having to stop and look over my shoulder at every bend, or worry that someone might frame me or blackmail me."

"You're doing fine," Spencer murmured into Aria's ear softly, "I know how hard you're trying. I understand how hard it is to know that we don't have many leads right now. But you have to keep holding up. Let's think about the future, huh? How great will it be when we're free from this and you and I can go live together in a cozy little house?"

Aria smiled and looked at her with unshed tears brimming at the bottom of her eyes. "I'd like that," she said with a slight giggle. "I'd really like that." Spencer smiled too and kissed Aria, the two of them merely having a gentle, heartfelt kiss to start.

The kiss quickly became more heated and their worries seemed to fade away. All that mattered to them in that moment was each other. They were so in love in that moment that nothing could stop them or bring them down.

When they stopped kissing and sat breathing heavily, they both smiled and hugged, returning to cuddling but this time with much lighter hearts than they had had before with the building up worries about 'A' and what 'A' was planning.

They heard a door open and shut next door, and knew that it was Jessie. Spencer grinned at the sound and began to tell Aria about Jessie and how kind she was. If only they knew who Jessie really was. If only they knew just what Jessie was doing and what her real motives were.

**Ohhhh! Things are going to start getting really intense :o**

** Thanks for all the reviews on the last chapter! I guess that was a popular one :D I didn't have any homework tonight, and hopefully, it'll stay that way for a few days at least. Crossing my fingers!**

** I hope you guys enjoy this chapter**

**Until next time**

**Xoxo,**

**-England**


	14. Pathetic

The next day came quickly and painlessly. Aria got up to see Spencer gone from bed, for once up before she was. She herself got out of bed and got dressed before going downstairs and sitting down at the table, looking at Spencer who was making breakfast. She frowned as she remembered Spencer's new rule. Spencer looked at her and smiled with a "Good morning" and gave her a plate with French toast on it.

Aria smiled and greeted Spencer as well. Then, as she picked at her food, she cast glances up at Spencer often. She finally said hopefully, hoping that Spencer would forget her own idea, "Could we go for a walk? It's so nice out today." She winced when she was met with a harsh glare from Spencer, a cold look that she wasn't used to.

"Nice try, Aria," Spencer said harshly, her eyes still narrowed at the smaller girl. "I know you remember what I said. You really think that I would just forget? Aria, I'm never going back on my own word. You're not allowed to leave the house. It isn't safe for you. There's a crazy person out there that we know is targeting you."

Aria sighed and looked down, unable to keep looking at the burning gaze of Spencer. It hurt her to look at that expression of anger and disapproval. She knew that Spencer was just being over protective, but it still pained her to look into those cold, scolding eyes, and not flinch or back down from the sight of the harshly blazing light in them.

"I'm going to go nuts though," Aria whined, turning away from Spencer altogether and putting her head back to look up at the ceiling above her. "You're not acting any better than 'A' when I was kidnapped," Aria said plainly, "forcing me to stay inside, to stay hidden."

Spencer gave her a hurt look and Aria could sense it without looking. It hurt her, but she forced herself to swallow and not back down after she'd made her point. "Yeah well," Spencer retorted, her voice cracking no matter how hard she tried to keep it from doing so, "at least I'm not hurting you this time. My goal is to protect you, not to destroy you."

"I'm sorry Spence. I didn't mean to say that. I just hate being contained like this. I feel like a bird that just got her wings ripped off. I feel _trapped._" Aria tried to explain, hating herself for hurting Spencer. But she had to make her girlfriend understand that she was entitled to freedom.

Spencer shook her head and said, "Fine, Aria, we can go for a walk, but not far, and you're not allowed to leave my side." Aria brightened up immediately and the two of them headed out to get fresh air.

As they walked, Aria brightened up visibly, almost as though she'd been a flower beginning to wilt from a lack of sunlight, and now that she had her sunlight back she could stretch out again. Spencer relaxed slightly. She didn't like having tension and arguments between herself and Aria. They walked a few blocks before heading back.

"See, Spencer," Aria said as they entered the house, "I went outside and nothing happened. You have nothing to worry about. I can take care of myself." Spencer rolled her eyes playfully and chuckled.

"I still don't want you to go out alone, but I suppose if you're with me it'll be alright."

"What about Hanna and Emily?"

Spencer hesitated and Aria frowned, having been merely asking the question out of curiosity. She hadn't wanted Spencer to delve too deeply into the question. "Sorry, Spence, I understand your concern about me. But I'm tougher than I look."

"I know you are. Aria, I don't think you're weak. I know you're strong. But I couldn't bear it if you got hurt, because I don't have that strength Aria. I'd never forgive myself," Spencer explained herself, shaking her head and sighing at the end of her words.

Aria smiled softly. "I get it Spencer. I just wanted to make sure you aren't underestimating me." Spencer nodded and the two of them finished their resolution almost in a telepathic manner with their little nod and exchanged glance.

Just then, Jessie came to the door. Spencer got up and got it, smiling at the new girl. The girl smiled warmly back and asked if Spencer and Aria wanted to hang out. Spencer nodded, inviting her to come in while making the fact that she wasn't keen on Aria leaving a secret. Spencer made tea, and the three of them sat down to talk.

"Where are you from?" Aria asked curiously before sipping her cup of tea slowly so that she wouldn't burn her tongue on the steaming liquid.

Jessie smiled and said, "I used to live in California, by the beach. All I ever saw growing up was the sand and the blue ocean. So when I finally got the chance to move somewhere else for the summer, I took it, you know? I wanted a change of scenery. The forest was a perfect change."

Aria nodded in understanding, but then she hesitated as a few things didn't seem to add up. "But Jessie, why did you move all the way across the country? I understand why you would want a change of scenery, but from California to Pennsylvania, wow. That's pretty far for one summer."

"Yeah," Jessie said with a shrug, "I wasn't always close with my family. That's another reason I wanted to move out, not just the land and the weather, but also because I didn't want to have to spend a summer with my family."

Spencer gave a soft laugh that was harsh sounding and mirthless. "I know that feeling," she said, "my family expects me to be perfect, to get great grades and get a job like a lawyer or something along those lines. Luckily for me though, they've been going away a lot recently, so I haven't really had to put up with being smothered by the need for perfection."

Their conversation went on like this, just talking about what Jessie's life was like before she moved to Rosewood and the things that they all had in common. Jessie was surprised at how well everything was working out. Aria and Spencer both took an immediate liking to her, and so her job required almost no work at all.

The next step after befriending the four, mainly Spencer and Aria, was to gain their trust, and Jessie had already achieved half of that goal by earning the trust of both Spencer and Aria in one little conversation. She could laugh for hours at their obliviousness, their obvious stupidity, but she decided to do nothing of the sort.

After a while of talking, Jessie bid them a farewell and left, going to finish up this step by gaining the trust of Hanna and Emily, the two that made up the other half of the four friends. Aria and Spencer were sad to see her leave so soon after she'd come, but weren't too upset as Jessie was their neighbor.

The day passed smoothly, smoother even than the days that were supposed to be their peaceful days before the redhead's threats took their action. But then, Spencer was alarmed to find out that she needed to go to Ravenswood. Her parents were returning to Rosewood when they got into an accident in Ravenswood, and were in the hospital there.

She was going to leave when her eyes fell upon Aria sitting on the couch. Aria knew that she was leaving, but she didn't know of Spencer's plan. Spencer headed next door to where Jessie was, and asked politely if Jessie wouldn't mind making sure nothing happened to Aria while she was gone.

"I'm just really concerned about her," Spencer explained to Jessie when she made the request, "there have been some troubling things happening and I really don't want her to be alone." Jessie nodded in understanding and Spencer headed out to Ravenswood. Jessie, meanwhile, went over to Spencer's house.

She let herself in and saw Aria whose arm was no longer in a cast from when it'd been broken sitting and reading a book. Aria looked up at the sound of footsteps, her eyes at first curious but then changing to a somewhat annoyed expression.

"Spencer sent you, didn't she? Wow, she really does think I'm weak! She thinks I can't even take care of myself for a few hours." Jessie sighed and sat down next to the now angry Aria.

"I know it sucks, but just think of it as us hanging out." Aria smiled and nodded and the two of them started talking as usual just about random things to pass the time.

Aria yawned after a while and began to drift off to sleep, as it was getting late at night. She was jolted awake at the sound of Jessie locking the doors. She sat up, confused, and looked at Jessie with an uncertain look on her face. "Why are you locking the doors?"

Jessie sat down next to Aria with a smirk on her face. "We see all, Aria," Jessie said with a dark chuckle, "don't you dare tell anyone about anything that happens tonight, or you won't live. And should your friends try to tell, they'll suffer the same fate. So you'll be putting multiple lives at risk if you tattle."

Aria's eyes widened, but she still seemed confused about the situation. "What are you talking about Jessie?" Then suddenly, she realized she recognized the girl in front of her. She gasped and tried to get away, but Jessie grabbed her hand and yanked her back down.

Jessie took out a pocket knife and took Aria's arm, rolling the sleeve up. "You hold still," Jessie growled as she carved the word 'pathetic' into Aria's skin. When she finished, she admired her work and tossed Aria's bloody limb to the side. Aria, finally released from Jessie's iron grip, stood up, grabbed her phone, and ran upstairs, slamming the door to hers and Spencer's room.

Sobbing, she dialed in Spencer's number. It rang for a while and went to voicemail. "S-Spencer…" she started, her voice shaking, suddenly uncertain about what exactly to say into the message. She couldn't tell Spencer about Jessie's identity or they'd all die. So, she made up a quick excuse.

"Spencer… I really need you home soon. Take your time with your parents, please, but when you get back, don't dawdle. I thought I saw someone outside, and Jessie was just as terrified as I am, which isn't helping this situation. Please, I need you right now."

Aria ended the message and sighed, going to the bathroom and washing off her arm before wrapping a light bandage around it and sliding her sleeve down over the wounds. She didn't know how she'd explain that if Spencer saw it.

She crawled into bed without changing into pajamas and fell into a fitful sleep.

It had been an hour, but it felt like it'd only been ten minutes. Spencer shook Aria who was tossing and turning in her sleep. She sat down next to her girlfriend, who bolted up in bed and saw Spencer, immediately hugging her tightly.

"Aria, relax. I got your message. I'm sorry I couldn't be here sooner. Nothing happened to you or Jessie, right? Other than getting scared, I mean." Aria hesitated and nodded, hating the feeling of lying to her girlfriend. Spencer sighed in relief and cuddled Aria.

"When I heard you saw someone and you made it sound like it was 'A'…" Spencer shook her head and murmured, "But you're okay. I'm glad you're okay." Aria smiled at Spencer's concern and nodded, still hugging her loosely.

The two broke apart and Spencer said, "Well Aria, it's late. Why don't we go and change and both get some sleep." The two did just that. Aria changed into long pajama pants but a tank top, not even noticing that she had bandages on her arm since she was used to the bandage that was there before when her arm was broken.

"Aria," Spencer said, confused when she saw her girlfriend's arm, "why do you have bandages on your arm?" Aria looked confused, then shocked, and then got a bit flustered as she looked down at her bandaged arm.

"This? Oh, Spence, this is nothing, I just tripped and scraped up my arm. I probably don't even need the bandages anymore." She laughed nervously and unraveled the bandages, quickly holding up her arm and putting it back down to show Spencer the wound but not allow her to read the word. If she read it, it'd be a lot harder to explain.

Spencer looked at her suspiciously before nodding slowly and saying, "Well, alright then." Aria smiled, glad that she'd gotten away with that, and got into bed, followed by a confused and thoughtful Spencer. She turned off the lamp next to the bed and they both closed their eyes.

When Spencer was sure that Aria had fallen asleep, she carefully lifted the covers that were lying over Aria's arm. She was surprised when she read what was carved into her arm; it was the word 'pathetic.' Spencer decided not to wake her now, but to confront her in the morning.

As the lanky brunette went to close her eyes and try to sleep, she couldn't help but wonder one thing.

_Did Aria do this to herself?_

** Here is chapter 14 everybody! I had all day to write this but procrastinated and squeezed it in late. Sorry for how late it is haha!**

** I'd really appreciate suggestions right now. I'm writing this blindly, I don't have a resolution in mind, and an idea or two would be strongly appreciated.**

** I don't have much else to say here.**

** Until next time,**

**Xoxo,**

**-England**


	15. Still Captive

Aria awoke and sat up, stifling a yawn that threatened to force its way up out of her chest as a reaction to still being a bit tired. Rubbing one eye slowly, she looked to the side and suddenly noticed Spencer sitting up in bed beside her, giving her a stern look that held disappointment. Spencer was fully dressed, her hair neat and tidy, and her makeup carefully applied. Aria felt confused as to why she was ready, but sitting next to her and watching her like a hawk.

"We need to talk," Spencer said tersely, her eyes narrowed down at her smaller friend. Aria felt a flash of confusion, and it must have shown on her face because Spencer's anger began to increase. "Don't play dumb," the taller girl said venomously as she looked down at Aria.

Aria shook her head slightly and said in a soft tone of voice, "I have no idea what you're even talking about, Spencer." Spencer laughed bitterly and grabbed Aria's cut up arm tightly, earning a gasp of pain from the shorter girl.

"Spencer let go, you're hurting me."

"Not until you tell me what's going on, Aria!" Spencer shouted, her anger coming off of her in waves that Aria could practically feel. Aria flinched back, and looked down at her arm, still in Spencer's iron grasp. She opened her mouth slightly, clearly going to tell Spencer the typical excuse of 'I fell' but Spencer predicted it and interrupted her girlfriend's attempt.

"You didn't fall," Spencer said in a deadly tone of voice, "No falling wound could cause this. Your arm clearly says pathetic on it, and I know the ground didn't write that. Aria, what were you thinking? How could you do this to yourself? Why didn't you TELL ME about it?!" Aria stared open-mouthed at the girl standing before her as she helplessly groped for some retort she could use in her own defense.

"I didn't do it to myself I swear!" Aria said, her teeth clenched in pain, "but you have to believe me Spencer. I can't tell you how it happened. You'd never believe me, you'd probably even hate me." Spencer glared at her, her anger building still as she realized that Aria was once again refusing to tell her the whole truth.

Spencer gripped her arm harder, relishing in the fact that it was putting Aria in pain. She was a total monster in that moment, out for blood. "I'm really _sick _of you not telling me everything Aria. You should be able to trust me!" She suddenly was aware of Aria's face becoming slightly redder, her upper teeth biting her lower lip. Her arm was completely tense in Spencer's hold.

Aria's eyebrows were furrowed and her eyes looked pleadingly up into Spencer's. She looked like a deer in a trap, begging to be set free but planning on running as soon as it happened. Spencer felt sick to her stomach as she saw the tears running down Aria's cheeks, and she looked down at her hand, viciously squeezing Aria's injured arm.

She pulled away, staring at Aria in horror, and the shorter girl fell to her knees, sobbing softly as she cradled her arm, holding it to her abdomen and staring at the purple bruise that was forming over her cuts. Spencer stumbled back, her eyes wide in disbelief and fear of herself and what she had caused, what she had the capability to cause.

Spencer fell to her knees before Aria and gently took the poor girl in her arms, feeling with a drop in her heart Aria's shaking body. She sobbed painfully into Spencer's chest as she wrapped her arms around her girlfriend's torso, clearly forgiving her for the pain that she had inflicted on her moments before.

"Aria, I'm sorry," she mumbled, her eyes still filled with that horrified feeling she had at herself. "I'm so sorry. I'm a monster. I'm a monster… I'm sorry, Aria, this shouldn't have happened, I'm so sorry…" Her grudge against Aria was completely forgotten now, and all she wanted was Aria to voice what she was so hoping was true; that she forgave her.

"I-it's okay, Spencer," Aria said, her voice trembling as she stuttered and tripped over her words. "I don't blame you for this," she continued, the tone still slightly shaky and soft, very soft. "I understand why you'd be mad at me, why you wouldn't believe me… so I'm not upset with you."

Spencer sighed into her hair and murmured, "I'm not mad. I'm sorry I acted like that Aria, I'm not mad at you, I guess I'm just mad at myself for not being able to help you. It's really hard when you hide things from me and then you get hurt and I can't do anything."

"I know…" Aria said, sighing, "But I really just can't tell you about this right now. You have to understand, it's too dangerous. Maybe soon I can tell you, but not now." Spencer gave her a long, hard look, before giving in with a sigh and nodding her consent.

Aria gave her a weak attempt at a smile and stood up, Spencer following her lead. Aria changed into sweats and a T-shirt, throwing her hair up in a ponytail and going downstairs. Spencer felt a flash of confusion as to why Aria wasn't wearing some eclectic outfit and making her hair look top notch like she usually did. Shrugging to herself, she went down as well.

Aria sat down and drew her knees up to her chest, resting her head on them and watching Spencer as the taller girl walked down after her. Spencer went to sit down when there came a knock at the door. Instead of sitting next to Aria, she went to answer the knock, and opened the door, surprised to see Jessie standing there with a fake warm smile upon her face.

She smiled in surprise and said, "Oh, hi, Jessie. Why are you here so early in the morning?" Jessie shrugged as a response and walked past Spencer into the house, taking off her shoes and making herself right at home, much to Spencer's shock.

"I got up early and thought I'd come over." She shot Aria a glance before saying, "Especially after last night. Aria and I were pretty shaken up." Aria noticed Jessie and heard her lie, realizing with a jolt that Jessie had had no way of knowing Aria's lie. But then again, Jessie was working with 'A,' so Jessie must know everything.

Spencer nodded and said, "Well, go ahead and sit down. I'll make coffee." She went to the kitchen to make coffee and Jessie helped herself to the seat beside Aria. Aria shifted away from her, giving her uncomfortable glances from the very edges of her vision, her pupils flicking from down and forward to the very corners of her eyes in the direction of Jessie.

Jessie narrowed her eyes at Aria and said, "Well, don't be so welcoming, Aria." Aria shifted her gaze away and squeaked out a soft apology, scrunching up at the end of the couch in a ball and silently praying that Jessie wouldn't be here for long.

When Spencer returned with the three coffees, she was utterly baffled to see how tense Aria was, and how irritated Jessie appeared to be. Confused, she handed them both their coffees. As soon as she handed Aria hers, she almost considered taking it away so she wouldn't spill it. The moment she let go of the cup when the handle was in Aria's hand, it began to shake.

Instead of taking it though, Spencer merely squeezed in between Jessie and Aria and put a gentle arm around Aria's shoulders to steady her. She became even more deeply confused when Jessie shot a look at her and Aria made a soft whimper, cuddling into her side.

Jessie quickly wiped the annoyed look off her face and smiled, beginning to go on and on about a crazy dream she'd had before. Meanwhile, Spencer tried to piece together why her girlfriend was acting the way that she was. Spencer had noticed how Jessie smirked and seemed to intimidate Aria while she was out in the kitchen, and Aria was extremely tense now, much more than she had been before Jessie was here.

Spencer remembered with a slight pang of worry in her heart how shaken up Aria had sounded on the phone the night before… how Aria seemed to hesitate before explaining why she needed to come home… how when she got there, Aria's arm had the word pathetic on it. Spencer looked at Jessie closely now, and suddenly, she recognized the face, but then said nothing, knowing they could be put into more potential danger if she pointed out that she figured out the connection than if she hid the fact that she knew.

Giving Aria a sympathetic glance, she went back to talking with Jessie, but Aria noticed now that her girlfriend's voice had a hidden venom, and she was much more rude and sarcastic than normal. She also held a tinge of fear that was underlying, hidden beneath the contempt, which was hidden behind the protective shield of friendliness.

Finally, when their conversation had simmered down to sheer pointlessness, Spencer said, "Aria and I actually have a big day planned, for just the two of us. Sorry, Jessie, maybe you can come back later and hang out with us then? We could get Emily and Hanna here too." She didn't want to put their other two friends into any more trouble, but she knew she'd seem less suspicious by throwing them in as well.

Jessie smiled and nodded, standing up and bidding them a farewell before leaving the house. Aria let out a breath heavily and finally relaxed in Spencer's embrace. She'd been like a cat, hiding in a bush while two dogs paced around, and the dogs had finally left. But in this case, Spencer was the bush, and Jessie was the dog who threatened her.

"You understand," Aria said, sounding relieved, "you get it now, Spencer? I saw you put the puzzle together." Spencer looked at her, and remembered vividly the time she'd said to Aria, 'You're really tiny, and I love you.' That could not be truer, she realized, at all. She loved Aria to death, and the little girl with intense courage always seemed to worry her even when she knew how strong Aria really was.

Spencer gripped Aria tightly and sighed. "I'm sorry I thought you did that to yourself. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions like that." Aria smiled and laughed.

"It's fine Spencer. You were just being over-protective." She then stopped and frowned, looking at Spencer. "You, Emily, and Hanna need to act like you don't know," she said, "and we can't tell Emily and Hanna." She saw the confusion on Spencer's face as the taller girl went to respond, so she continued to explain in a low, quick voice, "She threatened me. If she knows you know, she'll kill me. It's best that Hanna and Emily just don't find out. If you guys try to tell, she'll kill us all."

Spencer sighed, and muttered, "'A' is ruthless." Aria nodded in agreement with her statement and leaned her head on her girlfriend's shoulder, sighing.

"It seems like I can never keep a secret from you," Aria said, letting out a huff of laughter at the irony. "You always find out what I'm hiding, no matter how hard I try to keep it hidden." Spencer grinned at her and winked.

"That's my specialty, unraveling secrets." Aria chuckled and then stood up.

"Are you still going to be strict on me going outside?" She pouted slightly and Spencer sighed, knowing it was wrong of her to baby Aria the way she was. She shook her head and Aria brightened up, saying she was going to get ready and bouncing happily up the stairs to get dressed into more presentable clothing.

She came back downstairs wearing normal clothes, her hair down, with her makeup done, in about ten minutes flat. She smiled brightly and said, "I'm going out." Spencer stared at her open-mouthed, surprised that she wanted to go that quickly. Aria explained, "I just need to get out and think about things, alright? I'm just going to get some fresh air. Don't worry Spence, I can take care of myself."

Spencer nodded reluctantly and Aria left the house. Spencer decided to try knitting to pass the time waiting for Aria to return. Aria meanwhile headed out of the house and toward the woods. She walked into the green landscape, relishing in the peace of the woods. But of course, she was being stalked.

She climbed up a huge tree in the woods and sat on the branch there, sighing as she looked around and did as she said she was going out to do—began to think about everything that was going on, that had been going on for a while. She tried to come up with a plan to get back at 'A,' but that was practically impossible to do.

Closing her eyes, she was suddenly aware of a presence next to her. She heard cracks below and her eyes snapped open. She looked down from where she sat high in the tree and saw no branches below her. There was no way for her to climb down. Terrified, she looked around wildly, only to see Jessie sitting on the branch beside her. A smirk lay on her face.

"Not a moment of peace," Jessie reminded her with a sinister smile. With a harsh, quick movement, Aria was falling. She felt her back hit tree roots of the tree next to the one she'd been in hard, and she knew her back would be bruised for a while. Her head snapped back when she landed and she began to have slight issues breathing correctly. Jessie stood over and glared at her.

She looked up at Jessie, gasping for breath, her eyes filled with terror. Jessie shook her head and clicked her tongue at Aria, as though she were a disappointed teacher or mother. "We may not have you in our captivity anymore Aria, but it'll be as if you never left. The torment won't stop just to give you a little break. It'll go on, and on. Sweet dreams, Aria."

She lifted her foot back and kicked Aria in the head. Aria was able to focus on the sky above for a few moments longer before her vision became fuzzy. Her eyelids fluttered in vain, struggling to stay open and to keep her awake, but failing miserably, for unconsciousness dragged at every fiber of her being, and she was all too happy to oblige to the welcoming idea of utter darkness, a safe haven from the terror and the pain.

**Here's chapter 15. Sorry it took so long! My computer was having some issues before and I couldn't get to it. But, here you go!**

** Hope you enjoy this chapter, review soon :D**

** Until next time,**

** Xoxo,**

**-England**


	16. Migraine

Aria awoke to find herself in a strange place. She wasn't in her bed… no, she was on someone's couch. But not just anyone's couch; she was on Hanna's couch. She looked around before noticing Hanna sitting in the chair next to her, looking at her worriedly. She sighed when she saw that Aria's brain seemed to be functioning alright, the look of recognition that slid across her face gave that information away.

"What happened, Aria?" Hanna asked, her worry still there but not as intense now. Her eyebrows furrowed now, merely in confusion and curiosity, not so much sheer concern. "I found you lying in the woods, out cold. I thought you were dead at first. How did that happen to you Ar?"

Aria remembered clearly what happened, and she could picture Jessie leaning over her with that sick and twisted grin on her face with clarity. She swallowed the bile that rose in her throat before lying to Hanna. "I don't remember what happened, Han…" her voice trailed away to make it sound as though she really was utterly confused.

Hanna sighed and nodded in understanding. "If you remember, tell me, alright?" Aria nodded, then looked outside and saw that it was already beginning to get dark. Spencer had to be worried sick about her. She had been out for almost an entire day, unconscious in the woods. She sat up abruptly from where she was lying on the couch and looked at Hanna, her eyes wild.

"I have to tell Spencer that I'm okay!" Hanna's eyes flashed in shock and nervousness as she realized what Aria was getting at. She had a hunch Spencer would be mad at her now for finding Aria and not immediately telling her that Aria was safe with her. Aria whipped out her phone and quickly texted Spencer to tell her that she was safe and at Hanna's house, and that she'd be home soon.

Spencer texted back almost immediately, with a 'THANK GOD' and a lot of other grateful praises, then some scolding like a mother, and finally a, 'Get home as soon as possible.' She sighed as she read all of this and let her hand drop to her side, knowing she was in for quite the reprimanding when she got back. Spencer would surely complain to her about how she should never have let her go out alone, how she couldn't handle herself, and how she needed to be treated like a child.

Honestly, Aria didn't think she wanted to return to that, but she knew that she now had no other choice. Hanna sensed her unease and said, "How about I bring you home, and go in with you, so if Spencer gets too overwhelming, you won't be totally alone." Aria smiled gratefully at Hanna's offer and accepted it, so the two of them headed out, Hanna supporting Aria whose head was throbbing.

Aria leaned her head against the cool window of Hanna's car as the two of them drove back to Spencer's house. When they got there, Aria saw the outline of Spencer's figure in the window, as though she was waiting, watching for them to arrive. Aria took a deep breath and prepared herself for the worst before getting out of the car with Hanna.

The two of them walked inside and Aria saw her girlfriend standing there, her face pale with worry. She hurried forward and hugged Aria, not saying anything. Hanna smiled slightly and said, "Sorry I didn't text you earlier Spencer. I didn't realize at the time that you'd be so concerned about her." Spencer smiled and waved it off.

"It's alright Hanna," Spencer said, "I shouldn't have gotten so worked up. I mean, I should have just assumed that she would eventually go to you or Emily. You guys are our friends too, after all." Hanna and Aria exchanged a look as they realized that Spencer didn't know what had happened to Aria.

Spencer just thought that Aria had gone out for a little bit and then headed to Hanna's to hang out. She didn't know that Hanna had found Aria unconscious in the forest, barely clinging onto life as the cold from the soil on the forest floor had seeped into her body and clutched at her like icy fingers. So, Hanna gave Aria a look, and Aria just gave a small shake of her head.

"I'll get going then," Hanna said, smiling at Spencer and glancing nervously at Aria once more before saying a formal goodbye to the two of them and leaving to go home, leaving Spencer and Aria alone. Spencer looked at Aria once she'd left and narrowed her eyes, looking her up and down.

"Gosh Aria," Spencer laughed, "did you go swimming in the mud or something?" Aria looked down at her dirty clothes, then back up at Spencer and smiled nervously as she told part of the truth.

"I went into the woods and was sitting in a tree. I lost my balance on the branch and fell out before I went to Hanna's," she explained. "But don't worry. I'm fine." Spencer smiled at the thought of her usual clumsiness, easily buying the lie, much to Aria's relief. Aria smiled.

She then said, "I'm going to go grab a shower and head to bed early, alright?" she struggled to keep her voice steady as stars swirled in front of her vision. Her head swam and she felt like she was going to be sick from the migraine that pounded at her head. She needed the hot water and the ability to sit down that moment. Spencer nodded, not noticing the difference, and Aria bolted upstairs.

She sat down on the bathroom floor once she'd gotten some pajamas to change into and sighed, letting her mind clear itself before going to turn on the water and get her shower. She wondered how long she could keep this a secret from Spencer. She hoped Spencer would never have to know. If she found out later, she'd be angrier than if she'd just told her now.

With a sigh, Aria decided not to think about it, and got undressed and stepped into the shower, closing her eyes and letting the warm water wash over her, soothing her headache slightly and cleaning the dirt from her body. However, as she stood there, even with her pain lessening, she began to realize how much pain she really was in. Her back hurt, her head was killing her, and her ankle was bruised, and slightly swollen, but luckily not sprained.

She groaned softly to herself, wishing she didn't constantly have to be in pain. But, she decided, she'd rather this be the case than her friends being hurt. If her friends were going through what she was… she shuddered. She'd rather die than see that happen.

Aria sat on the shower floor, too dizzy to remain standing. She hoped this didn't become too huge of a problem. She didn't want Spencer to get too suspicious about what had happened. Spencer acted like her mother sometimes, and while it was sweet of her to be so over protective, Aria was still the same age as Spencer and still deserved her freedom.

Spencer sighed when Aria went upstairs and sat on the couch with a book, reading silently with nothing but the sound of a ticking clock and the faint noise of running water from the shower to disrupt her thoughts. Her mind began to drift as she read, though she tried to focus on the words that were on the page. Annoyed that she couldn't focus, she put the book down and thought of how her day had gone.

It had been a day of constant worry for her, always wondering where Aria was, why she wasn't responding to texts, and what was taking her so long to 'go out and think.' She shouldn't have worried so much; she knew she shouldn't have. But she couldn't help it. Aria was her everything. She wasn't willing to lose that.

She wished that it was her that was being targeted by 'A.' At least then, she'd know that Aria was safe. But Aria wasn't safe, and wouldn't be for a while. She thought back to some of the past times when 'A' had designated a target. It could last for quite a while, she realized. But this time, the threat was even bigger. Somebody was out for revenge on Aria in particular.

Frustrated, Spencer picked the book back up and flipped to the page she'd been on, hoping it would be a distraction from her torrential thoughts that filled her head and swirled around it like a hurricane, trying to force her to focus on it and nothing else.

Aria got out of the shower after a while and wrapped a towel around herself, drying off before changing into pajamas. She looked in the mirror, sighing at the sight. Her face was gaunter than usual and slightly sunken, her bones more defined and her skin a bit paler than normal. Aria knew the stress was getting to her. Heck, it was getting to all of them. But there wasn't much she could do about it.

Aria finished getting changed and dried her hair before shuffling to bed, turning out as many lights as she could without interrupting Spencer downstairs. The lights weren't helping her headache. She lay in bed for what felt like an eternity, just trying to fall asleep, although sleep couldn't seem to come. She tossed and turned, pain shooting through her head every time she moved, but she just wasn't tired enough.

Just when she thought she'd never fall asleep, Spencer came in, got ready, and slid into bed next to Aria. Aria pouted and turned to look at Spencer, feeling a slight sense of relief now that she was up with her. It was nice to have Spencer next to her, and she'd been growing very accustomed to the scenario. "I can't sleep," she mumbled sadly as she looked her girlfriend in the eyes.

Spencer gave her a soft smile and took her into her arms, earning a contented sigh and smile from Aria as she cuddled her head into Spencer's shoulder. Spencer gently stroked her hair and said, "Well, you will eventually. Just let your mind drift. Don't think about heavy topics." Aria gave a small nod, not able to nod much more due to the pain, and not wanting to give a full out honest nod, because they both knew that not thinking about heavy topics for them would be an unimaginable blessing.

However, Aria found that in Spencer's arms, she was given a much larger bliss, and sleep came surprisingly quickly to the girl who'd nearly reached her breaking point. Her dreams were even blissful for once, for she didn't dream, and was exempt from the pain of the overwhelming nightmares that often threatened to haunt her subconscious as she slept.

The next morning, Aria's headache hit her in a flash, and she woke up with a groan of pain. This aroused Spencer from her sleep, and she sat up quickly in confusion, looking down at Aria who was gripping her head, her muscles tense as she winced in pain, her eyes shut tight.

"What's wrong, Ar?" Spencer asked, immediately getting up, knowing she'd get Aria whatever it was she needed. It was the least she could do for her girlfriend, she told herself, who was going through hell all the time now because of one drunken mistake and one secretive stalker.

Aria said through gritted teeth, "My head… it hurts…" Spencer needn't hear anything else. She hurried down the stairs and got some aspirin and a cup of water, heading upstairs. She shut the blinds that allowed sunlight to filter in and made sure that little light could make its way into the room. She handed Aria the aspirin and the water and Aria gratefully took the medicine.

"I have a really bad migraine," Aria explained, "I had a bit of a headache last night, but this is worse." Spencer nodded in understanding. She too got headaches like this every now and then that tended to last all day, and sometimes even caused her to get sick. So, as a reaction to this, Spencer got a bowl that if needed, Aria could use to vomit.

Sighing, Spencer sat on the side of the bed and shook her head. "I'm honestly not surprised you have such a migraine. All of this crap going on… it's a lot to handle. Do you want me to get Hanna and Emily to come over and we can all keep you company for the day?" Aria smiled at the suggestion Spencer had made and gave a thumbs up, not wanting to nod for fear of further pain.

Spencer smiled and went to text their other two friends, beginning to formulate a plan to make even this day of darkness that Aria had into a good one.

**Okay so. A run through of these next few chapters. I feel like I've been forcing a lot of Aria-centric drama. Clearly, this entire story is Aria-centric with Sparia and little Hannily… however, it's still a bit much. SOOOO I think I'm going to start some SPENCER drama (nothing too huge, but y'know) and have more Hannily moments.**

** This chapter tied in that last suspense and made it fluffy, and I plan to carry this fluff through the next chapter. So, chapter 17 will be a sort of break from all the drama. Chapter 18 will begin some more of the drama again.**

** Hope you enjoy, thank you for all the kind reviews, I try not to keep you waiting too much!**

** Until next time,**

**Xoxo,**

**-England**


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